Evaluation of Surface Fatigue Degradation Using Acoustic Nonlinearity of Surface Wave

This paper reports the results of a case study for the evaluation of surface damage by using acoustic nonlinearity of surface wave. In this study, the experimental system was constructed to measure the acoustic nonlinear parameter of surface wave in an Aluminum 6061 T6 specimen of which surface was damaged by the three point bending fatigue test, and magnitudes of nonlinear parameter measured before and after the fatigue test were compared. Especially, since the surface fatigue damage by the three point bending is concentrated at the central position of loading, the change in the nonlinear parameter around this position was monitored. Experimental results showed that the measured nonlinear parameter at the outside of this position after the fatigue test was almost same as the initial value before the fatigue test, since the fatigue damage at this position was little. However, clear increase in the nonlinear parameter was noticed after the fatigue test at the central position of specimen where the surface fatigue damage is expected to be concentrated.