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1.1 This test method covers a procedure for measuring the longitudinal and transverse (shear) sonic velocities in manufactured carbon and graphite which can be used to obtain approximate values for the elastic constants: Young’s modulus (E), the shear modulus (G), and Poisson’s ratio (v).

1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.

1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.4 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

5.1 Sonic velocity measurements are useful for comparing materials with similar elastic properties, dimensions, and microstructure.

5.2 Eq 1 provides an accurate value of Young’s modulus only for isotropic, non-attenuative, non-dispersive materials of infinite dimensions. For non-isotropic graphite Eq 1 can be modified to take into account the Poisson’s ratios in all directions. As graphite is a strongly attenuative material, the value of Young’s modulus obtained with Eq 1 will be dependent on specimen length. If the specimen lateral dimensions are not large compared with the wavelength of the propagated pulse, then the value of Young’s modulus obtained with Eq 1 will be dependent on the specimen lateral dimensions. The accuracy of the Young’s modulus calculated from Eq 1 will also depend upon uncertainty in Poisson’s ratio and its impact on the evaluation of the Poisson’s factor in Eq 2. However, a value for Young’s modulus Eq 1 or Eq 7) can be obtained for many applications, which is often in good agreement with the value obtained by other more accurate methods, such as in Test Method C747. The technical issues and typical values of corresponding uncertainties are discussed in detail in STP 1578.6

5.3 If the grain size of the carbon or graphite is greater than or about equal to the wavelength of the sonic pulse, the method may not provide a value of the Young’s modulus representative of the bulk material. Therefore it would be desirable to test a lower frequency (longer wavelength) to demonstrate that the range of obtained velocity values are within acceptable levels of accuracy. Significant signal attenuation should be expected when grain size of the material is greater than or about equal to the wavelength of the transmitted sonic pulse or the material is more porous than would be expected for as-manufactured graphite.

5.4 If the sample is only a few grains thick, the acceptability of the method’s application should be demonstrated by initially performing measurements on a series of dummy specimens covering a range of lengths between the proposed test specimen’s length and a specimen length incorporating sufficient grains to adequately represent the bulk material.