MONITORING GROWTH OF CLOSED FATIGUE CRACK USING SUBHARMONIC PHASED ARRAY

To ensure the safety and reliability of atomic power plants and airplanes, the technique of monitoring closed fatigue cracks is requisite. Here we monitored the distribution of the crack depths and closure behavior in the length direction after 48000 and 87000 fatigue cycles using subharmonic phased array for crack evaluation (SPACE). The crack depths in the subharmonic images were larger than those in the fundamental images. Specifically, the difference was larger at near the side surface than at the center. The percentage of the closed part varied with the crack growth in the specimen. In addition, we fabricated shoe for SPACE to facilitate mechanical scanning. Thus, it was demonstrated that SPACE is useful in monitoring closed fatigue crack growth.