A new system to determine experimentally the complex Young's modulus of highly compliant elastomers at elevated hydrostatic pressures and as a function of temperature is presented. A sample cut in the shape of a bar is adhered to a piezoelectric ceramic shaker and mounted vertically inside a pressure vessel equipped with glass windows. Two independent measurement methods are then used: a resonant technique, to obtain low-frequency data, and a wave propagation technique, to obtain higher-frequency data. Both techniques are implemented utilizing laser Doppler vibrometers. One vibrometer detects sample resonances through a window located at the bottom of the pressure vessel, and a set of two separate vibrometers monitors the speed of longitudinal waves propagating in the sample, through windows located on the sides of the vessel. The apparatus is contained inside an environmental chamber for temperature control. Using this approach, Young's modulus data can be obtained at frequencies typically ranging from 100 Hz to 5 kHz, under hydrostatic pressures ranging from 0 to 2.07 MPa (300 psi), and at temperatures between -2 degrees C and 50 degrees C. Experimental results obtained on two commercial materials, Rubatex R451N and Goodrich Thorodin AQ21, are presented. The effects of lateral inertia, resulting in dispersive wave propagation, are discussed and their impacts on Young's modulus measurements are examined.
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