Elastic properties of icosahedral and decagonal quasicrystals

Problems associated with determining the symmetry properties of the elastic constant tensor of icosahedral and decagonal quasicrystals are reviewed. Notions of elastic isotropy and anisotropy are considered, and their relation to the components of the elastic constant tensor is discussed. The question is addressed of how to determine experimentally whether a system under study is elastically isotropic. Experimental results produced by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy of icosahedral Al–Li–Cu and decagonal Al–Ni–Co single quasicrystals are discussed in detail.