Acoustic Emissions and Stress-Corrosion Cracking in High-Strength Alloys

The usefulness of acoustic emission data (i.e., stress wave emission - SWE) to studies of stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) of high-strength alloys was explored. Single-edge-notched, precracked cantilever specimens were used to study the stress-corrosion-crack growth and SWE characteristics of a high-strength stainless steel and a titanium alloy. SWE data correlate reasonably well to crack growth measurements by conventional beam deflection techniques for high-strength stainless steel but is too insensitive for reliable detection of crack extension in the titanium alloy. The use of SWE data to define the energetics of discrete cracking events are currently beyond the capabilities of existing equipment and analytics. (Author)