Continuous observation of cavity growth and coalescence by creep-fatigue tests in SEM

Structural components operating at high temperatures in power plants are subjected to interaction of thermal fatigue and creep which results in creep-fatigue damage. In evaluating the life of those components, it is important to understand microscopic damage evolution under creep-fatigue conditions. In this study, static creep and creep-fatigue tests with tensile holdtime were conducted on SUS304 stainless steel by using a high-temperature fatigue machine combined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and cavity growth and coalescence behaviors on surface grain boundaries were observed continuously by the SEM. Quantitative analysis of creep cavity growth based on the observation was made for comparison with theoretical growth models. As a result, it was found that grain boundary cavities nucleate at random and grow preferentially on grain boundaries in a direction almost normal to the stress axis. Under the creep condition, the cavities grow monotonously on grain boundaries while they remain the elliptical shape. On the other hand, under the creep-fatigue condition the cavities grow with an effect of local strain distribution around the grain boundary due to cyclic loading and the micro cracks of one grain-boundary length were formed by coalescence of the cavities. Also, cavity nucleation and growth rates for creep-fatigue were more rapid than those for static creep and the constrained cavity growth model coincided well with the experimental data for creep. (author)