Crackling noise in advanced gravitational wave detectors: A model of the steel cantilevers used in the test mass suspensions

Abstract

The response of elastic materials to external changing conditions can proceed through small and discrete releases of stress, rather than a continuous and smooth deformation as described by the classical elasticity theory. In a macroscopic elastic body, the sum of all those small crackling events can create a detectable displacement noise (crackling noise). In this paper we consider the case of the steel cantilevers used in the seismic isolation systems of ground based gravitational wave detectors, to provide the vertical isolation needed to reach the detector target sensitivity. Those instruments are reaching unprecedented displacement sensitivity, at a level that might be limited by crackling noise in the aforementioned cantilevers. Understanding this source of noise is extremely important, especially considering its intrinsic nonlinear nature. Since a detailed microscopical model of crackling noise in polycrystalline steel is not available at the moment, we suggest a phenomenological microscopical model, and the focus of this paper is on how crackling noise scales with the size and geometry of the cantilevers. The goal of this paper is to provide a method to scale up future measurements of crackling noise from small test cantilevers to the large ones used in advanced gravitational wave detectors.

Avalanches in Compressed Sandstone: Crackling Noise under Confinement

“…The exponents τ and x under a confining pressure of 10 MPa are shown in Figure 6a,b. We found that the confining pressure used in this study (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) does not change the exponents within experimental resolution; the exponents are similar to each other in this confining stress range. Table 1 shows the predicted exponents in MF, force integrated MF, and the mean exponents' values in this study.…”

“…Typical examples are magnetic materials, which magnetize via jumps of the magnetization known as Barkhausen noise [1]. Other dynamic physical systems with avalanches include sheared granular materials [2,3], plastically deformed crystals [4,5], ferroelectric switching [6], collapse of porous materials [7,8], neuronal networks [9], gravitational wave detection [10], and even stellar evolution [11]. Among these systems, the failure of porous materials has recently received much attention [12].…”

Coatings and surface treatments for enhanced performance suspensions for future gravitational wave detectors

“…Another relevant noise is associated with how elastic materials respond to changing external forces through small (discrete) changes in stress, rather than a continuously smooth deformation [4], often referred to as crackling noise. Models for describing the current maraging steel cantilevers within aLIGO are under development [5,6]. However, replacing the maraging steel with silicon blade springs is expected to significantly reduce the total number of crackling events due to the reduction of atomic creep (e.g.…”

Nano-indentation and avalanches in compressed porous SiO2

“…Under slow loading, many systems generate crackles, 9 e.g., our earth during earthquakes, 3,10 a sheet of paper while crumpling, 11 ferroic materials under electric and magnetic fields as a result of domain wall movements, [12][13][14][15] metals and alloys during martensitic phase transitions 16,17 and plastic deformation, 4,18 and even steel cantilevers as parts of ultrasensitive gravitational wave detectors. 19 An effective way to detect such abrupt strain field variations, the "jerks," is to measure the related acoustic emission (AE) events. 8,10 The underlying physical process is the formation of avalanches, seen as sequences of jerks.…”