Acoustic Surface Wave Measurements of Surface Cracks in Ceramics

Abstract
Acoustic surface wave techniques were devised for detecting and characterizing surface cracks in ceramics. These techniques detect cracks at least as small as 60 μm deep on polished samples. The crack detectability was diminished by surface grinding, because of a background effect, attributed to backscattering from surface microcracks. Preliminary experiments conducted on turbine blades indicated that the techniques can be applied to components of complex shape.