Shear Wave Measurements of a Gelatin’s Young’s Modulus

Gelatin is a commonly used material for analog experiments in geophysics, investigating fluid-filled fracture propagation (e.g., magmatic dikes), as well as fault slip. Quantification of its physical properties, such as the Young’s modulus, is important for scaling experimental results to nature. Traditional methods to do so are either time consuming or destructive and cannot be performed in situ. We present an optical measurement technique, using shear waves. Polarizing filters enable visualization of the deviatoric stresses in a block of gelatin, so shear wave propagation can be observed. We demonstrate how the wave velocity can be measured and related to the Young’s modulus, show how the results are comparable to another methodology and discuss processing techniques that maximize the measurement precision. This methodology is useful for experimentalist, as it is simple to implement into a laboratory setting, can make precise, time-efficient estimates of the material strength and additionally is non-destructive and can be performed in situ.