On Ultrasonic Compression Wave Absorption in Unfilled and Filled Polymers

The increasing use of ultrasound for testing engineering structures that incorporate polymer components brings with it the need for analytical models by which 'wave absorption and phase velocity may be estimated as functions of frequency.Simple spring/dashpot ideas.whilst scienti cally long outmoded, can provide a basis for such estimates, although there is some confusion as to which combination of springs and dashpots is appropriate.This paper identi es. by reductia ad absurdum, the appropriate model for un lled polymers as being the anelastic solid.attributable to Zener.In polymers containing llers.scattering brings about a signi cant increase in ultrasound absorption.It is shown that established theories of scattering account for absorption in excess of that expected in the continuous polymer phase.