THE PROGRESSION OF BENDING FATIGUE IN MONEL K500

Abstract— A comparison was made at room temperature of the fatigue sequence in Monel K 500 (N05500), both between the different states of solution heat treated, aged, and overaged, and with nickel that had been studied previously. The test mode was reversed bending and monitoring was by Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, in conjunction with sequential microhardness measurements. It was found that variations in Monel between the heat treated states were minor in comparison to differences with nickel. In Monel, the fatigue resistance was relatively poor because of ready intergranular, as well as transgranular, cracking. To achieve a significant life, the stress level had to be kept well below the yield strength, low enough to delay the onset of visible slip, for cracking would follow promptly. This meant that, in contrast to nickel, stress levels high enough to invoke strain hardening and obvious secondary slip led to exceedingly short lives. Also, inclusions mattered, slip occurring preferentially in their vicinity.