Dwell-fatigue crack growth behaviour of Alloy 709

Dwell-fatigue crack growth behaviour of an advanced austenitic stainless steel Alloy 709 has been investigated and compared with that of a conventional Type 316H stainless steel. The test procedure employed alternation of 1 h dwell-fatigue loading and 0.25 Hz fast cycling so that crack growth rates (da/dN) obtained from dwell-fatigue loading can be compared to those purely result from fatigue mechanism on the same test-piece. Tests were conducted at 550, 650 and 750 °C in air using 0.5 T compact tension test-pieces under a fixed maximum load of 8 kN and a stress ratio, R, of 0.1. For the investigated temperature and ΔK ranges, crack growth mechanisms of fatigue alone, creep alone and mixed fatigue-creep have all been observed. Detailed fractographic and metallographic observations were conducted to interpret failure mechanisms and regimes of different failure modes. Compared to crack growth rates obtained under 0.25 Hz fatigue loading, dwell-fatigue produces: no obvious increases in crack growth rates at a test temperature of 550 °C; a moderate increase (∼ 2–5 times) at a test temperature of 650 °C; and, over a tenfold increase at a test temperature of 750 °C. Compared to 316H, Alloy 709 has much improved resistance against creep-fatigue crack growth, here confirmed at the single test temperature of 650 °C.