Elevated-temperature low-cycle fatigue behavior of different heats of type 304 stainless steel

The low-cycle fatigue results of three heats of Type 304 stainless steel have been ob-tained at 593°C under selected cyclic-loading conditions. The results are compared with those generated for a reference heat of steel for which extensive low-cycle fatigue data are available. Observation of the microstructures of specimens in the pretest condition after a given heat treatment and examination of fatigue fracture surfaces were con-ducted by means of optical and scanning electron microscopy and X-ray analysis. The three heats of stainless steel, which exhibit different microstructural features, show approximately the same continuous-cycling low-cycle fatigue behavior as that of the re-ference heat. However, the three materials show improved fatigue strength during tensile hold-time conditions where significant creep occurs. The fatigue properties determined in the present study for the different heats of steel are consistent with the observed mi-crostructural features. Finally, the creep-fatigue properties of the heats as well as the microstructural observations are discussed in terms of a damage-rate approach re-cently developed by the authors.