Utilizing guided acoustic waves to measure dispersive material properties of polymers

This contribution will give a short introduction to the most important mechanic and acoustic parameters that are necessary to model and simulate frequency dependent sound propagation (dispersion) in isotropic but linear viscoelastic materials. Furthermore, several experimental techniques to measure these parameters will be discussed, like the dynamic-mechanical analysis and transient ultrasonic techniques. Finally it will be shown how to use the determined material parameters for the simulation of transient signals in a highly attenuative acoustic waveguide.