Ceramics
A large number of structural applications of ceramic materials involve gradients and temporal variations of high temperatures and strains. Therefore the elastic characterization of ceramics at high temperature is fundamental to evaluate the expected behavior in use.
Moreover, the internal friction can be investigated in terms of the damping factor Q-1, measured via the impulse excitation technique. In contrast to the elastic constants, the internal friction is a measure of energy dissipation during vibration or impact and can provide important additional information on material performance, especially in damage-related processes where defects such as cracks may lead to unusually high damping factors.
The instruments are also very suitable to measure porous ceramic materials as only very small strains are involved.
