The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Initiation and growth of short cracks in u-notch bend specimens of superalloy IN718 during high temperature low cycle fatigue.

Initiation and growth of short cracks in u-notch bend specimens of superalloy IN718 during high temperature low cycle fatigue.
Initiation and growth of short cracks in u-notch bend specimens of superalloy IN718 during high temperature low cycle fatigue.
Inconel 718 (IN718) is a nickel-based superalloy used extensively for gas turbine discs. Since turbine discs are safety-critical components, considerable effort is expended in determining their safe operating life. This requires a thorough understanding of the fatigue damage which can occur during service. One type of in-service damage is low cycle fatigue cracking in the fir tree root fixtures of discs. To study this, fatigue tests at 600°C were performed on two batches of U-notch bend specimens (Batch A & B), taken from disc forgings with the same composition, heat treatment and microstructure. U-notches were machined by a broaching process similar to that used for fir tree root fixtures. Fractography and metallography were used to study the natural initiation of cracks. Dwells of 1 to 30 seconds at maximum stress were used to investigate previous findings of a beneficial effect on fatigue life under certain conditions. Selected tests were performed on polished notches to measure surface short crack growth rates using replicas. Unstressed thermal exposure experiments were also performed to study primary carbide oxidation, which is implicated in crack initiation. Oxidation of primary carbides readily occurred in unstressed samples and fatigue tests. Localised matrix deformation was observed in the vicinity of oxidised carbides. Theoretical calculations of mismatch strains showed that oxidation of primary carbide particles caused substantial plastic deformation in the surrounding matrix. This was a common cause of crack initiation in Batch A specimens, but was less common in Batch B. In Batch A, short crack growth was approximately constant across a wide range of crack lengths. The cracks observed were straight and transgranular at the surface. Batch B, tested at a higher stress level, exhibited the more typical behaviour of increasing growth rate with increasing crack length, and surface crack paths were more tortuous. A difference between the batches was clearly seen in strain-life results, with Batch B exhibiting longer lifetimes than Batch A under the same experimental conditions. A beneficial effect on life of dwell at maximum stress was observed for Batch A tests. However, no such beneficial effect was observed for Batch B tested at a higher stress level. Differences in crack initiation and propagation between the two batches were investigated. Batch A was found to have a work-hardened deformation layer in the broached notch, while Batch B did not. The effects of the deformation layer and differences in surface finish on observed fatigue behaviour are discussed.
University of Southampton
Connolley, Thomas
baeb481e-885f-4ac9-ad83-fc6537ac5337
Connolley, Thomas
baeb481e-885f-4ac9-ad83-fc6537ac5337
Reed, Philippa
8b79d87f-3288-4167-bcfc-c1de4b93ce17
Starink, Marco J
480bc227-21e7-4551-a20c-e9eaea25f4b8

Connolley, Thomas (2001) Initiation and growth of short cracks in u-notch bend specimens of superalloy IN718 during high temperature low cycle fatigue. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 253pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Inconel 718 (IN718) is a nickel-based superalloy used extensively for gas turbine discs. Since turbine discs are safety-critical components, considerable effort is expended in determining their safe operating life. This requires a thorough understanding of the fatigue damage which can occur during service. One type of in-service damage is low cycle fatigue cracking in the fir tree root fixtures of discs. To study this, fatigue tests at 600°C were performed on two batches of U-notch bend specimens (Batch A & B), taken from disc forgings with the same composition, heat treatment and microstructure. U-notches were machined by a broaching process similar to that used for fir tree root fixtures. Fractography and metallography were used to study the natural initiation of cracks. Dwells of 1 to 30 seconds at maximum stress were used to investigate previous findings of a beneficial effect on fatigue life under certain conditions. Selected tests were performed on polished notches to measure surface short crack growth rates using replicas. Unstressed thermal exposure experiments were also performed to study primary carbide oxidation, which is implicated in crack initiation. Oxidation of primary carbides readily occurred in unstressed samples and fatigue tests. Localised matrix deformation was observed in the vicinity of oxidised carbides. Theoretical calculations of mismatch strains showed that oxidation of primary carbide particles caused substantial plastic deformation in the surrounding matrix. This was a common cause of crack initiation in Batch A specimens, but was less common in Batch B. In Batch A, short crack growth was approximately constant across a wide range of crack lengths. The cracks observed were straight and transgranular at the surface. Batch B, tested at a higher stress level, exhibited the more typical behaviour of increasing growth rate with increasing crack length, and surface crack paths were more tortuous. A difference between the batches was clearly seen in strain-life results, with Batch B exhibiting longer lifetimes than Batch A under the same experimental conditions. A beneficial effect on life of dwell at maximum stress was observed for Batch A tests. However, no such beneficial effect was observed for Batch B tested at a higher stress level. Differences in crack initiation and propagation between the two batches were investigated. Batch A was found to have a work-hardened deformation layer in the broached notch, while Batch B did not. The effects of the deformation layer and differences in surface finish on observed fatigue behaviour are discussed.

Text
Connolley - Version of Record
Available under License University of Southampton Thesis Licence.
Download (30MB)

More information

Published date: 1 September 2001

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 427002
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/427002
PURE UUID: 81f037e2-0e9b-4319-a6cf-1ecc0ad20bca
ORCID for Philippa Reed: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2258-0347

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Dec 2018 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:44

Export record

Contributors

Author: Thomas Connolley
Thesis advisor: Philippa Reed ORCID iD
Thesis advisor: Marco J Starink

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×