Determination of the elastic and piezoelectric constants of orthorhombic crystals by an acoustical method

An acoustical method is proposed for the determination of the elastic and piezoelectric constants in orthorhombic crystals of class mm2. The method is based on the measurements of the phase velocities of elastic waves in cube-shaped samples. Only three samples are required to determine all nine elastic and five piezoelectric constants. This is an advantage of the proposed method over the conventional method of resonance and antiresonance frequencies. Another advantage is that the proposed method determines the signs of piezoelectric constants, which is impossible with the resonance-antiresonance method. The disadvantage of the proposed method Lies in the fact that it requires high-precision measurements of the phase velocities of elastic waves and a highly accurate sample orientation.