Eddy-current testing of fatigue degradation upon contact fatigue loading of gas powder laser clad NiCrBSi-Cr 3 C 2 composite coating

Abstract

The possibilities of the eddy-current method for testing the fatigue degradation under contact loading of gas powder laser clad NiCrBSi-Cr 3 C 2 composite coating with 15 wt.% of Cr 3 C 2 additive have been investigated. It is shown that the eddy-current testing of the fatigue degradation under contact loading of the NiCrBSi-15%Cr 3 C 2 composite coating can be performed at high excitation frequencies 72-120 kHz of the eddy-current transducer. At that, the dependences of the eddy-current instrument readings on the number of loading cycles have both downward and upward branches, with the boundary between the branches being 3×10 5 cycles in the given loading conditions. This is caused, on the one hand, by cracking, and, on the other hand, by cohesive spalling and compaction of the composite coating, which affect oppositely the material resistivity and, correspondingly, the eddy-current instrument readings. The downward branch can be used to monitor the processes of crack formation and growth, the upward branch - to monitor the degree of cohesive spalling, while taking into account in the testing methodology an ambiguous character of the dependences of the eddy-current instrument readings on the number of loading cycles. © 2017 Author(s).