Characterizing Materials in the Frequency Domain: Validation Experiments

Abstract

High Performance Concrete (HPC) and Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) achieve an effective stiffness or strength which allows constructing highly stressed buildings. Following, we present a mechanical characterization technique for HPC and UHPC, using harmonic excitations from 0.1 Hz up to 1 kHz and displacement amplitudes in the micrometer range. The small-amplitude excitations are performed by a high-performance piezo-electric actuator. To validate the experimental workflow, we characterize the mechanical behaviour of Polymethylmethacrylat (PMMA). In this contribution, we present results gained with two different cylindrical sample sizes. By this comparison we shall ensure that geometrical scaling of samples has no influence on the rheological results of the experiments, apart from a change in Signal-to-Noise ratio.