Measurement of mechanical quality factors of polymers in flexural vibration for high-power ultrasonic application

A method for measuring the mechanical quality factor (Q factor) of materials in large-amplitude flexural vibrations was devised on the basis of the original definition of the Q factor. The Q factor, the ratio of the reactive energy to the dissipated energy, was calculated from the vibration velocity distribution. The bar thickness was selected considering the effect of the thickness on the estimation error. In the experimental setup, a 1-mm-thick polymer-based bar was used as a sample and fixed on the top of a longitudinal transducer. Using transducers of different lengths, flexural waves in the frequency range of 20-90 kHz were generated on the bar. The vibration strain in the experiment reached 0.06%. According to the Bernoulli-Euler model, the reactive energy and dissipated energy were estimated from the vertical velocity distribution on the bar, and the Q factors were measured as the driving frequency and strain were varied. The experimental results showed that the Q factors decrease as the driving frequencies and strains increase. At a frequency of 28.30 kHz, the Q factor of poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) reached approximately 460 when the strain was smaller than 0.005%. PPS exhibited a much higher Q factor than the other tested polymers, which implies that it is a potentially applicable material as the elastomer for high-power ultrasonic devices.