Polycrystalline gamma-plutonium's elastic moduli versus temperature.
Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy was used to measure the elastic properties of pure polycrystalline (239)Pu in the gamma-phase. Shear and longitudinal elastic moduli were measured simultaneously and the bulk modulus was computed from them. A smooth, linear, and large decrease in all elastic moduli with increasing temperature was observed. The Poisson ratio was calculated and an increase from 0.242 at 519 K to 0.252 at 571 K was found. These measurements on extremely well-characterized pure Pu are in agreement with other reported results where overlap occurs. We calculated an approximate Debye temperature Theta(D)=144 K. Determined from the temperature variation in the bulk modulus, gamma-Pu shows the same Gruneisen parameter as copper.
Stroe
I
I
Department of Physics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609, USA.
Betts
J B
JB
Trugman
A
A
Mielke
C H
CH
Mitchell
J N
JN
Ramos
M
M
Freibert
F J
FJ
Ledbetter
H
H
Migliori
A
A