Comparison of acoustic and strain gauge techniques for crack closure measurements

A quantitative study on the systems performances of the COD gauge and the acoustic transmission techniques to elastic deformation of part-through crack and compact tension specimens has been conducted. It is shown that the two instruments measure two completely different quantities: The COD gauge yields information on the length change of the specimen whereas the acoustic technique is sensitive directly to the amount of contract area between two surfaces, interfering with the acoustic signal. In another series of experiments, compression tests on parts with specifically prepared surfaces were performed so that the surface contact area could be correlated with the transmitted acoustic signal, as well as the acoustic with the COD gauge signal. A linear relation between contact area and COD gauge signal was obtained until full contact had been established.