Application of Generalized Lamb Wave for Evaluation of Coating Layers

This work is aimed to explore a possibility of using the generalized Lamb waves for nondestructive evaluation of the bonding quality of layered substrates. For this purpose, we prepared two sets of specimens with imperfect bonding at their interfaces; 1) TiN-coated specimens with various wear conditions, and 2) CVD diamond specimens with various cleaning conditions. A dispersion simulation performed for layered substrates with imperfect interfaces are carried out to get the characteristics of dispersion curves that can be used for bonding quality evaluation. Then the characteristics of dispersion curves of the fabricated specimens are experimentally determined by use of an ultrasonic backward radiation measurement technique. The results obtained in the present study show that the lowest velocity mode (Rayleigh-like) of the generalized Lamb waves are sensitively affected by the bonding quality. Therefore, the generalized Lamb waves can be applied for nondestructive evaluation of imperfect bonding quality in various layered substrates