Measurements of Elastic Properties of Plasma-Sprayed Coatings Using Bulk Ultrasonic Pulses

Abstract

A new theory is proposed to extend the limit of the application of bulk ultrasonic pulses, which have been thought to be unsuitable for the evaluation of sound velocity in thin coating layers because of interference with echoes. This extension is accomplished by introducing the new concept of the group delay spectrum. We first made a model representing waves reflected from a coating layer and found that many acoustic properties, for example, sound velocity, acoustic impedance, and coating density, can be derived easily by a group delay analysis. Next, the theory was applied to the analysis of a layer plasma-sprayed coated with alumina particles on a stainless steel substrate. To confirm the validity of the theory, we prepared coated specimens of varying thicknesses which covered from 0.16 mm to 0.48 mm, and we succeeded in evaluating sound velocity and coating density.