Low Frequency Characterization of Flaws in Ceramics

Abstract

There is an increasing need for the characterization of small flaws in ceramic components. This project is concerned with detecting and characterizing flaws in the bulk of ceramic parts. Cylindrical tensile test specimens of hot pressed Si3N4 are being prepared and, when available, will be inspected. In preparation for the arrival of the samples, measurement techniques have been developed for inspection of cylindrical shaped samples, signal processing techniques have been developed for obtaining flaw scattering data over a broad range of frequencies and analysis techniques have been developed to automatically extract flaw characteristics from measured data