Application of Acoustic Emission Technology for Quantitative Characterization of Plasma-Sprayed Coatings Subjected to Bending Fatigue Tests

Plasma-sprayed coatings are widely used in industry, e.g., in applications subject to high wear and corrosion damage, or requiring thermal insulation. However, the failure behavior of such coatings has a great influence on the service safety of mechanical parts. Acoustic emission (AE) has attracted much attention due to its proven usefulness for real-time monitoring of damage evolution and high sensitivity to fracture sources. In this study, the damage evolution behavior of a plasma-sprayed coating subjected to three-point bending fatigue tests was monitored using the AE method. A method combining parameterized, Fourier, and wavelet analysis was used to distinguish the damage modes in the coating. The analysis results revealed two crack modes (surface vertical crack and interface crack) with two different peak frequencies. A finite element method was used to quantify the fracture stress and propagation behavior of cracks, revealing that the thickness of the coating had a strong influence on its spalling.