Manifestations of dynamic strain aging under low and high cycle fatigue in a type 316LN stainless steel

Influence of Dynamic strain aging (DSA) under low cycle fatigue (LCF) and high cycle fatigue (HCF) loading was investigated by conducting LCF and HCF tests on specimens over a wide range of temperature from 573 to 973 K. DSA was found to be highly pronounced in the temperature range of 823–873 K. DSA was seen to have contrasting implications under LCF and HCF deformation. The cyclic hardening owing to DSA caused an increase in the cyclic stress response under LCF, leading to decrease in cyclic life. On the other hand, the DSA-induced strengthening suppressed the crack initiation phase under HCF where the applied stress remains fixed, leading to an increase in the cyclic life.     

Assessment of fatigue response of thermally aged reduced activation ferritic-martensitic steel based on finite element analysis

Abstract

In the present investigation, effect of thermal ageing on low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic steel has been assessed by finite element analysis. The steel was thermally aged at 873 K for 3000 hour. Low cycle fatigue tests were carried out on both the as-received and thermally aged material at strain rate of 3×10^?3 s^?1 at 823 K, over strain amplitudes in the range of ± 0.25 to ± 0.8%. Continuous cyclic softening till final failure, except for initial few cycles especially at relatively lower strain amplitudes, was observed in both the material conditions. Thermal ageing resulted in marginally higher cyclic stress response accompanied by lower fatigue life. The differences in fatigue responses have been attributed to the coarsening of precipitates on thermal ageing. Finite element analysis has been carried out considering combined isotropic and kinematic hardening as material model to estimate the effect of thermal ageing on the response of material under LCF loading. Thermal ageing was found to decrease both the isotropic and kinematic hardening with appreciable effect on isotropic hardening. The predicted cyclic stress response and hysteresis loops were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. The LCF life of the steel has been estimated based on the hysteresis energy approach.     

Influence of temperature on the low cycle fatigue behaviour of a modified 9Cr–1Mo ferritic steel

Low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of a modified 9Cr–1Mo steel under normalized and tempered conditions is reported. The alloy was normalized at 1313K for 1 h followed by tempering at 1033K for 1 h, which resulted in a tempered martensitic structure. Total axial strain controlled LCF tests were conducted at a constant strain rate of 3×10⁻³ s⁻¹ at different strain amplitudes varying from ±0.25 to ±1.0% in the temperature range of 300–873K. The cyclic stress response behaviour, in general, showed an initial brief hardening for the first few cycles, followed by a continuous and gradual softening regime that ended in a stress plateau that continued up to the specimen failure. The fatigue life decreased as the temperature increased. The temperature effect on life was more pronounced at low strain amplitudes. The metallography of the failed samples revealed that the fatigue failure at high amplitudes of testing was marked by extensive crack branching and the formation of secondary cracks. Oxidation was found to exert major influence on LCF life reduction at 873K.     

Strain-rate effect on high temperature low-cycle fatigue deformation of AISI 304L stainless steel

The effect of strain rate on the behaviour of high temperature low-cycle fatigue is investigated for AISI 304L stainless steel. Regardless of the test temperature of 873 or 973 K, the fatigue life is saturated in the strain-rate range of slower than 4 × 10^–3 sec^–1. Also it is interesting to note that serrated flow, which is evidence of the occurrence of dynamic strain ageing, is clearly observed in the load-elongation hysteresis loops for strain rates that are slower (at 873 K) and faster (at 973 K) than 4 × 10^–3 sec^–1. Since the combination of temperature and strain rate is concerned with the phenomenon of dynamic strain ageing, it is considered that the above-mentioned saturated fatigue life at 873 K is caused by dynamic strain ageing and that the hardening effect due to dynamic strain ageing abnormally increases the fatigue life. However, even though the behaviour of fatigue life under strain rates slower than 4 × 10^–3 sec^–1 at 973 K has nothing to do with the dynamic strain ageing, it has been found that the failure life is also saturated in this slower strain-rate range. This behaviour is considered to be caused by the effect of creep, because the deformation under the low strain-rate activates the recovery process and as a result it causes saturation of the inelastic strain range.     

The effect of thermal ageing on low cycle fatigue behaviour of 316 stainless steel welds

It is well known that welds are the weak links in any structure. Therefore, it is of out most importance to characterize the mechanical properties of welds. Moreover, the changes in the microstructure that occur in welds on exposure to high temperatures affect the mechanical properties and must be studied by ageing the welds at high temperature. In this paper the low cycle fatigue behaviour of thermally aged 316 stainless steel weld metal is presented. Weld pads with single V configuration were prepared by the shielded metal arc welding process using 316 electrodes. Thermal ageing was done for 10,000 h at 823 and 873 K. Total strain controlled low cycle fatigue tests were conducted at a constant strain rate of 3 × 10^?3 s^?1 with strain amplitudes in the range ±0.25% to ±0.6% at 823 and 873 K. Weld metal exhibited initial hardening followed by cyclic softening prior to failure. The aged samples exhibited higher stress response as compared to the unaged samples. At both the temperatures and all strain amplitudes fatigue life was inferior to that of unaged samples. The metallography of the aged and tested material was studied through optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The effect of transformation of δ-ferrite to sigma phase and carbides in the weld metal on low cycle fatigue behaviour was evaluated.     

Thermomechanical fatigue evaluation and life prediction of 316L(N) stainless steel

An attempt has been made to understand the thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) behaviour of a nitrogen-alloyed type 316L austenitic stainless steel under different temperature domains. Smooth, hollow specimens were subjected to in-phase (IP) and out-of-phase (OP) thermal–mechanical cycling in air under a mechanical strain control mode, at a strain rate of 6.4 × 10^?5 s^?1 and a strain amplitude of ±0.4%. For the sake of comparison, total strain controlled low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests were also performed at the peak temperatures of TMF cycling on similar specimens employing the same strain rate and strain amplitude. Life was found to depend on the thermal/mechanical phasing and temperature. Creep was found to contribute to life reduction in IP tests when the peak temperature of cycling was above 600 °C. A few TMF tests were performed in vacuum in order to assess environmental influence on life. Thermomechanical fatigue cycling led to the development of significant amounts of mean stresses and the stress response was generally higher compared to that of LCF tests at the peak cyclic temperatures. Also, the isothermal tests at the peak temperature of TMF cycling resulted in lower lives compared to those obtained under TMF. An attempt was made to predict the TMF life using the isothermal database and satisfactory predictions were achieved using the Ostergren’s frequency modified damage function (FMDF) approach.     

Bithermal low-cycle fatigue evaluation of automotive exhaust system alloy SS409

This investigation provides thermomechanical fatigue data for the ferritic stainless steel alloy SS409, used extensively in automotive exhaust system components. The data were generated to assess the total strain version of the strain range partitioning (TS-SRP) method for the design and durability assessment of automotive exhaust systems. The cyclic lifetime and the cyclic stress–strain–temperature–time behaviour for alloy SS409 were measured using bithermal tests with extreme temperatures of 400 and 800 °C. Fatigue lives ranged up to 10 000 cycles with hold-times of 0.33–2.0 min. The bithermal fatigue behaviour was compared to isothermal, strain-controlled fatigue behaviour at both 400 and 800 °C. Thermomechanical cycling was found to have a profound detrimental influence on the fatigue resistance of SS409 compared to isothermal cycling. Supplementary bithermal tests with hold-times ranging from 40 s to 1.5 h were conducted to calibrate the TS-SRP equation for extrapolation to longer lifetimes. The observed thermomechanical (bithermal) fatigue lives correlated well with estimated lives using the TS-SRP equations: 70% of the bithermal fatigue data fall within a factor of 1.2 of calculated life; 85% within a factor of 1.4; and 100% within a factor of 1.8.     

Effects of temperature on the low cycle fatigue behaviour of nitrogen alloyed type 316L stainless steel

Strain-controlled low cycle fatigue tests have been conducted in air between 298–873 K to ascertain the influence of temperature on LCF behaviour of nitrogen-alloyed type 316L stainless steel. A strain amplitude of ± 0.60% and a symmetrical triangular waveform at a constant strain rate of 3 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ were employed for all tests. Crack initiation and propagation modes were evaluated, and the deformation and damage mechanisms which influence the cyclic stress response and fatigue life identified. The cyclic stress response at all temperatures was characterized by an initial hardening to the maximum stress, followed by gradual softening prior to attaining saturation. Temperature dependence of fatigue life showed a maximum in the intermediate temperature range. The drastic reduction in fatigue life at elevated temperatures has been ascribed primarily to the combined influence of dynamic strain ageing effects and oxidation-enhanced crack initiation, while the lower life at room temperature is attributed to detrimental effects associated with deformation-induced martensite.     

An assessment of three creep–fatigue life prediction methods for nickel‐based superalloy GH4049

High‐temperature low‐cycle fatigue tests with and without a 10‐s strain hold period in a cycle were performed on a nickel base superalloy GH4049 under a fully reversed axial total strain control mode. Three creep–fatigue life prediction methods are chosen to analyse the experimental data. These methods are the linear damage summation method (LDS), the strain range partitioning method (SRP) and the strain energy partitioning method (SEP). Their ability to predict creep‐fatigue lives of GH4049 at 700, 800 and 850 °C has been evaluated. It is found that the SEP method shows an advantage over the SRP method for all the tests under consideration. At 850 °C, the LDS and SEP methods give a more satisfactory prediction for creep–fatigue lives. At the temperatures of 700 and 800 °C, the SRP and SEP methods can correlate the life data better than the LDS method. In addition, the differences in predictive ability of these methods have also been analysed. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination of fracture surfaces reveals that under creep–fatigue test conditions crack initiation mode is transgranular, while crack propagation mode is either intergranular plus transgranular or entirely intergranular, dependent on test temperature.     

Cyclic behavior of 9–12% Cr steel under different control modes in low cycle regime: A comparative study

Cyclic behavior of 9–12% Cr steel under both stress and strain control modes was investigated at 873 K. Significant asymmetric deformation and cyclic softening were observed for both modes. Under the strain-controlled fatigue, a strain level-independent softening factor (SF) was observed. The SF was dependent on applied stress under the stress-controlled fatigue. For the strain-controlled fatigue, the magnitude of cyclic asymmetry decreases with the increase of strain amplitude, while under the stress-controlled fatigue, the asymmetry increases with the increase of stress amplitude. The anomalous ratcheting strain resulted from the asymmetry under the stress-controlled mode has a detrimental effect on fatigue life.     

Zum thèrmisch-mechanischen Ermüdungsverhalten von NiCr22Co12Mo9

On the Thermal-Mechanical Fatigue Behaviour of NiCr22Co12Mo9 The fatigue behaviour of the Ni-based alloy NiCr22Co12Mo9 (corresponding to Inconel 617) under combined cyclic thermal and mechanical “in-phase”- and “out-of-phase”-loading was investigated with a constant minimum cycle temperature of 473K and a constant total strain amplitude of 6,25% at maximum cycle temperatures T_o ranging from 873K to 1473K. It was found that the cyclic deformation behaviour and the corresponding development of the microstructure during the tests were mainly determined by the maximum cycle temperatures. With increasing T_o increasing recovery processes occurred accompanied by charakteristic changes in the microstructure which reduced cyclic hardening. In contrast, both maximum cycle temperature and cycle mode determined surface deteriorations, which were characterized by surface cracks, and fatigue life. At the highest temperatures during the in-phase-loading cycles, the occuring tensile stresses caused increasing amounts of intergranular damage with corresponding reductions of fatigue life.     

TENSILE AND LCF PROPERTIES OF AISI 316LN SS AT 300 AND 77 K

Tensile and low-cycle fatigue tests were performed on a 316LN austenitic stainless steel at 300 and 77  K. The tensile and low-cycle fatigue properties were obtained and analysed in terms of the influence of temperature on the plastic deformation process and the formation of strain-induced martensite. The martensite content was evaluated using measurements of magnetic saturation. No α'-martensite was detected at 300  K under either monotonic or cyclic straining. On the contrary, at 77  K, strain-induced martensitic transformation is responsible for the higher elongation in tension and the secondary hardening observed on hardening/softening curves in low-cycle fatigue. The induced martensite content in tensile tests is a function of strain which deviates from Angel's model. In low-cycle fatigue, it is a function of the strain level and the accumulated plastic strain. At a given total strain amplitude, the decrease of temperature from 300 to 77  K results in the decrease of plastic strain amplitude and homogenization of plastic strain distribution, and thus in the prolongation of fatigue life. The cyclic over-stress at 77  K, due to an intermediate ageing at 300  K, is related to pinning of initially free dislocations resulting from nitrogen diffusion during isothermal holding at room temperature. This results in a reduced fatigue life.     

Wechselverformungskurven und Mikrostruktur bei spannungskontrollierter Zug-Druck-Wechselbeanspruchung von Ck 45 im Temperaturbereich 295 K ≤ T ≤ 873 K

Cyclic deformation curves and microstructure of SAE 1045 after stress-controlled push-pull loading in the temperature range 295 K ≤ T ≤ 873 K Stress-controlled cyclic deformation tests were performed with normalized SAE 1045 in the temperature range 295 K ≤ T ≤ 873 K. From the measured mechanical hysteresis loops cyclic deformation curves were determined, which are characterized by temperature dependent cyclic softening and hardening processes. Due to the cyclic deformation processes at any temperature distinct dislocation structures are formed depending on the stress amplitudes and the number of cycles chosen. In the whole temperature range and for all stress amplitudes the plastic strain amplitude was proved to be a suitable parameter to describe the actual fatigue state.     

FRACTURE AND LIFE PREDICTION UNDER THERMAL-MECHANICAL STRAIN CYCLING

Abstract— Thermal-mechanical cyclic strain tests were carried out under in-phase and out-of-phase conditions on a ferritic 1 CrMoV steel in the temperature range 315 to 565°C and two different batches of a 316 stainless steel in the temperature range 400 to 625°C. The results were compared with isothermal data.
In general, lives for in-phase thermal-mechanical tests were lower than for equivalent isothermal tests. This was substantiated by metallographic examination which indicated greater intergranular damage for the in-phase specimens. The addition of a tensile dwell to the in-phase condition caused even greater differences.
Three life prediction methods were used: the ductility exhaustion and a modified strain range partitioning approach gave reasonable estimates of life, whilst the linear life fraction method produced poor prediction.     

Crack initiation under thermal fatigue: An overview of CEA experience: Part II (of II): Application of various criteria to biaxial thermal fatigue tests and a first proposal to improve the estimation of the thermal fatigue damage

A Part I accompanying paper clearly showed that for a given level of strain range (Δ?), the number of cycles required to achieve crack initiation is significantly lower in biaxial thermal fatigue than in uniaxial isothermal fatigue.Such discrepancy does not come from a thermal effect, as it is emphasized by a comparison between the uniaxial data, coming either from thermomechanical fatigue tests, or from isothermal low cycle fatigue tests. A detrimental effect of multiaxial loading on fatigue life is noticed in many cases as reported in the literature.In this frame, the goal of this paper is to propose criteria in order to take into account the reduction of fatigue life resulting from the multiaxiality. Among all the examined multiaxial criteria, a criterion based on strain proposed by Zamrik, and a new criterion based on energy proposed by “Ecole Polytechnique” give the best estimations. Furthermore, application of the Zamrik’s criterion using the RCC–MR method is very promising for the design engineer. Indeed, these two criteria exhibit a notable potential, since they are well adapted to all the available thermal fatigue experimental data, despite significant differences between approaches and processes developed by both accessible facilities.However, such investigation must be continued with achievement of additional thermal fatigue tests (for higher number of cycles…), and isothermal biaxial fatigue tests.     

Creep–fatigue crack development from short crack starters

Abstract

A series of isothermal strain controlled creep–fatigue tests on fully instrumented cylindrical specimens with shallow chordal crack starters has been conducted for an advanced 9%Cr turbine rotor steel at 600 and 625°C. Cyclic/hold wave shapes involving a dwell period at peak strain in tension or compression were also performed with crack development being monitored by means of electrical potential drop instrumentation. It is found that temperature, total strain range and hold period are the most influential factors on short creep–fatigue crack propagation rates and specimen life. In order to establish a reliable relationship to represent subcritical crack development for high temperature component integrity assessment, the effectiveness of candidate correlating parameters such as cyclic strain range, cyclic J integral and strain energy density factor have been evaluated. Their application to circumstances involving short crack development due to fatigue, and interacting and non-interacting creep loading are evaluated with reference to the evidence determined from post-test metallurgical examination.     

High temperature,high strain forging behaviour of binary Al–2Li alloy

Abstract

This investigation has demonstrated the utility of coupled computer simulation and constant strain rate, isothermal compression of double cone wedge tests within the dynamic recrystallisation regime, for predicting the influence of strain, strain rate and temperature on the high temperature, high strain forging behaviour of an annealed binary Al–2 wt-%Li alloy. Initially, experimentally determined true stress–true strain compression data were used to simulate isothermal forging of double cone compression specimens. At intermediate temperatures (673–773 K) and strain rates (0.01–0.001 s^-1), simulations predicted large gradients in strain across the specimen, the microstructural features in this case corresponding to both dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallisation (DRX) within the specimen. At higher temperatures (773–823 K) and lower strain rates (0.0005–0.001 s^-1), simulations predicted a uniform strain distribution over the cross-section of the specimen, the microstructural observations correlating to DRX at lower strains and dynamic grain growth at high strain levels. Two models, one statistical, and the other phenomenological, were utilised to predict the grain size variation in the specimen as a function of strain. Both models showed excellent correlation with the experimentally measured grain size data.     

High-temperature fatigue behaviour of a second generation near-γ titanium aluminide sheet material under isothermal and thermomechanical conditions

The high-temperature deformation behaviour of a second generation γ-TiAl sheet material with near-γ microstructure was characterised under tensile, creep, isothermal and thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) loading conditions. Test temperature ranged from 500 to 750 °C in isothermal tests and these temperatures were also used as minimum and maximum temperature of in-phase (IP) and out-of-phase (OP) thermomechanical fatigue tests. Under tensile loading, a ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) of about 650 °C was observed. At this temperature the material experiences a temperature dependent change in the fracture morphology. Creep tests carried out in the temperature range from 650 to 800 °C under true constant stress conditions revealed a temperature and stress dependence of the Norton stress exponent n and the apparent activation energy for creep Q_app. With increasing temperature, isothermal fatigue life at constant strain amplitude decreased in vacuum, but increased in air indicating an abnormal (inverse) environmental effect. Under IP loading, fatigue is characterised by cyclic softening due to dynamic recrystallisation. OP loading drastically reduces fatigue life and turned out to be an extremely critical loading situation for γ-TiAl alloys.     

Comparative evaluation of strain controlled low cycle fatigue behaviour of solution annealed and prior cold worked 316L(N) stainless steel

The effect of 20% prior cold work on low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of type 316L(N) stainless steel (SS) was studied at 873 K by conducting total axial strain controlled tests in air with strain amplitudes in the range ±0.25% to ±1.0%. The cyclic deformation behaviour of 20% prior cold worked (PCW) material was compared with the LCF response of solution annealed (SA) alloy tested under similar conditions. The cyclic stress response (CSR) of 316L(N) SS in the PCW condition was characterized by a short period of hardening followed by prolonged softening prior to failure, whereas SA material exhibited a significant hardening regime followed by stress saturation. Interrupted tests on PCW material were carried out at different stages of CSR in order to determine the underlying mechanisms as reflected in substructural changes. The fatigue life in the solution annealed condition was similar to that of the PCW material at higher strain amplitudes of testing (≥±0.5%) while at lower strain amplitudes, the PCW material exhibited longer life.