Influence of Hold Time on Creep-Fatigue Behavior of an Advanced Austenitic Alloy

An advanced austenitic alloy, HT-UPS (high temperature-ultrafine precipitate strengthened), is a candidate material for the structural components of fast reactors and energy-conversion systems. HT-UPS provides improved creep resistance through a composition based on 316 stainless steel (SS) with additions of Ti and Nb to form nano-scale MC precipitates in the austenitic matrix. The low cycle fatigue and creep-fatigue behavior of a HT-UPS alloy has been investigated at 650 C, 1.0% total strain, and an R ratio of -1 with hold times as long as 9000 sec at peak tensile strain. The cyclic deformation response of HT-UPS is compared to that of 316 SS. The cycles to failure are similar, despite differences in peak stress profiles and the deformed microstructures. Cracking in both alloys is transgranular (initiation and propagation) in the case of continuous cycle fatigue, while the primary cracks also propagate transgranularly during creep-fatigue cycling. Internal grain boundary damage as a result of the tensile hold is present in the form of fine cracks for hold times of 3600 sec and longer and substantially more internal cracks are visible in 316 SS than HT-UPS. The dislocation substructures observed in the deformed material are different. An equiaxed cellular structure is observed in 316 SS, whereas tangles of dislocations are present at the nanoscale MC precipitates in HT-UPS and no cellular substructure is observed.