Elastic constants at low temperatures - Recent measurements on technological materials at NBS

Solid-state low-temperature elastic properties have been experimentally studied at the NBS Cryogenic Division for four years. Most studies were between room temperature and liquid-helium temperature; some were only to liquid-nitrogen temperature. Two dynamic (high-frequency) experimental methods were used, pulse-echo and resonance, resulting in adiabatic elastic constants. The present paper reviews these studies for 47 technological materials - metals, alloys, and composites. The elastic constants primarily discussed are Young's modulus, the shear modulus, the bulk modulus (reciprocal compressibility), and Poisson's ratio. A summary table is presented to show which base metals tend to exhibit regular, irregular, or anomalous behavior in their elastic constant/temperature curves.