Comparison of different experimental techniques for determination of elastic properties of solids

Four different experimental techniques, namely resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS), impulse excitation (IE), nanoindentation (NI) and four-point bending (4PB) test were used to determine the Young’s and shear moduli of 99.9% pure Al2O3, 7075 aluminum, 4140 steel and Pyrex glass. The results from the different tests are compared and statistically analyzed to determine the precision of each method and to estimate the significance of the differences among the four techniques. It was found that dynamic methods (RUS and IE) have superior precision and repeatability when compared to NI and 4PB for all four tested materials. It was also found that the differences between results of RUS and IE are not statistically significant, and that NI can be equally successfully used for determining Young’s modulus of well-prepared, microstructurally homogenous and relatively hard materials. 4PB was found to have the lowest precision and repeatability among the four test methods.