Fatigue and fatigue crack growth properties of 316LN and Incoloy 908 below 10 K

The cyclic loading characteristics of Tokamak type thermonuclear machines demand study of the fatigue response of the materials used in critical components. The large superconducting magnets and their superconductors will operate under cyclic mechanical stress conditions. The present paper is biased towards the current superconductor design of the NET (Next European Torus) model coil concept. The superconductor of this coil will be a cable-in-conduit Nb3Sn type with an enveloped stiff external jacket structure. The wall thickness of the jacket structure is within the range of 4-5 mm. The manufacturing of the jacket lengths for several hundred meters require an appropriate joining process due to the prefabricated section pieces available only in short lengths of 5-7 meters. The recently anticipated solution favors the flash butt welding technique. The performance of the superconductors jacket will depend on the material selection and the proper structural design according to the existing low temperature structural materials data base. The wind and react Nb3Sn-manufacturing process must also account the materials properties after ageing. A program was set up to elucidate the fatigue-life behavior and fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) of the selected two candidate materials. These materials were the AISI 316LN with a specified low carbon content to avoid the embrittlement after the ageing process and the Incoloy 908. The 316LN material in the as received condition was tested with respect to its fatigue-life for specimens bearing predefined flaws and cracks. The propagation of surface cracks at 12 K and at 295 K was characterized with non standard specimens. The tests were performed in a cryogenic dynamic test facility under helium gas environment between 7 K and 20 K. Using the reference growth laws obtained from these measurements the total crack propagation starting with the initial crack length of the specimen could be predicted by numerical computation