Effect of lithium-lead eutectic and hydrogen on the fatigue behavior of some austenitic alloys

We investigate low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue of 04Kh16N11M3T and 03Kh20N45M4BCh austenitic alloys under rigid loading by pure bending in air, hydrogen, and lithium-lead eutectic at 80, 250, and 350°C. The amplitude of deformation did not exceed ±3%. We discovered a decrease in durability at 250 and 350°C in the presence of lithium-lead eutectic under low-cycle loading and under high-cycle loading in the stage of limited endurance. The greater the amplitude of loading, the sharper the decrease in durability, and this effect is more pronounced at 250°C than at 350°C. Under the action of gaseous hydrogen, the durability of 04Kh16N11M3T alloy increases under low-cycle loading as compared to that in air. In the same situation, the durability of 03Kh20N45M4BCh alloy decreases. Under high-cycle loading, no influence of hydrogen on the limited endurance of these alloys was detected. Both in hydrogen and in lithium-lead eutectic, we observed a decrease in the amplitude of deformation at the fatigue limit on a base of 10⁷ cycles.Translated from Fiziko-Khimicheskaya Mekhanika Materialov, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 101–106, January – February, 1995.