The complex dynamic shear compliances and loss tangents of pilot whale blubber (BLB), pork‐belly fat (PBF), and beef‐belly fat (BBF) have been measured over a frequency range of ≃ 45 to 4500 Hz, using the Fitzgerald apparatus [E. R. Fitzgerald and J. D. Ferry, J. Colloid Sci. 8, 1–34 (1953)]. Representative values at 100 Hz for J* and tan ζ PBF, cm2/dyn, tan ζ = 0.5; BLB, cm2/dyn, tan ζ = 0.7; BBF, cm2/dyn, tan ζ = 0.1. Thus beef‐belly fat is ≃ 100 times stiffer (less compliant) and pork‐belly fat is ≃ 15 times less stiff (more compliant) than whale blubber. The general shape of the compliance curves are similar except for a frequency shift in the peak values. The broad peak in J* and tan ζ implies a relaxation mechanism in all three fats. The high loss tangent in blubber and its intermediate value of compliance suggests that it plays a role in reducing flow noise by acting as a “matched load” to the boundary layer “turbulence generator.” A polyvinyl gel, with dynamic shear properties closely matched to those of blubber, is proposed as a “synthetic blubber: for studies of turbulent flow over compliant surfaces.” [Work had fragmentary support from NUSC/NLON.]
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May 1990
August 13 2005
Measurements of the complex dynamic shear compliance and loss tangent of pilot whale blubber and the role of blubber in flow‐noise reduction
James W. Fitzgerald;
James W. Fitzgerald
The Kildare Corp., 95 Trumbull St., Ste. D, New London, CT 06320‐5595
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Edwin R. Fitzgerald
Edwin R. Fitzgerald
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD
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J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 87, S147 (1990)
Citation
James W. Fitzgerald, Edwin R. Fitzgerald; Measurements of the complex dynamic shear compliance and loss tangent of pilot whale blubber and the role of blubber in flow‐noise reduction. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 May 1990; 87 (S1): S147. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2028011
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