Size distribution of surface cracks and crack pattern in austenitic SUS316 steel plates fatigued by cyclic bending

The size distribution of surface cracks and the crack pattern were examined on the specimens of the SUS316 steel plates fatigued by cyclic bending. The size distribution of the cracks could be approximated to a logarithmic normal distribution, irrespective of the maximum total strain range or the number of fatigue cycles. The number of the cracks (Nu) of the length (x) equal to or larger than a given size (X) could be approximated to a power law, Nu X^–a , with a scaling exponent a at the larger crack sizes in the fatigued specimens of the SUS316 steel. The value of a decreased with increasing the number of fatigue cycles because of the increase in the number and size of fatigue cracks, and was larger in the specimens tested at the smaller total strain range. Effects of experimental variables on the scaling exponent (a) were also shown in this study. The fractal dimension of spatial crack distribution (the fractal dimension of crack pattern) (D) increased in the range from about 0.9 to about 1.2 with increasing the number of fatigue cycles, and was larger in the specimens fatigued at the larger total strain range. There was a negative correlation between the value of a and the value of D on fatigue cracks, although there was no unique relationship between these two values.     

Influence of texture on twin boundary cracks in fatigued austenitic stainless steel

It is well-known that crack initiation in fatigued austenitic steel (316L) specimens is dominated at lower deformation amplitudes by twin boundaries (TBs). For medium plastic strain amplitudes, it is shown here that the propagation of short cracks starting at TBs can be explained when both the surface tractions caused by elastic anisotropy as well as the related slip processes are considered. This conclusion has been obtained from grain orientation measurements along damaged TBs using the electron backscatter diffraction technique in the scanning electron microscope. The frequency of the damaged TBs strongly depends on the meso-texture given by the distribution of 60° 〈111〉 rotation axes of the twins in the pole figure. The texture was determined by automatic orientation mapping. Specimens, which were machined transverse to the rolling direction of the plate, show more damaged TBs than those machined parallel. Consequently, the risk of TB cracks can be reduced by favorable alignment of the specimens with respect to the rolling direction.     

Swelling of 316L austenitic stainless steel induced by plasma nitriding

Swelling of 316L austenitic stainless steel plasma nitrided at 400°C under floating potential has been investigated using electron back scattered diffraction and white-light interferometry. Swelling of individual grains strongly depends on their crystallographic orientation, similarly to the thickness of the nitrided layer. After 1 h of treatment, swelling is maximum for the 〈001〉 oriented grains and minimum for the 〈111〉 oriented grains. After 8 and 33 h of nitriding, the maximum of swelling is observed in the grains having their normal direction at about 15° from the 〈001〉 orientation. These results are discussed on the basis of plastic strain after comparison with calculated swellings of the 〈001〉 and 〈111〉 oriented grains, using the thickness of the nitrided layer deduced from the trapping–detrapping diffusion model and a rough estimation of the plastic strain. The satisfactory agreement between experimental and calculated swellings supports the idea that swelling results from the lattice expansion due to the incorporation of nitrogen plus an elastic strain and a plastic strain. For individual grains of the 316L matrix, nitriding leads to a tensile-like elongation of high magnitude (around 20%) and it might be the origin of the lattice rotations which were previously observed after nitriding.     

Fracture of case-hardened steel in bending

An analytical model is presented for the fracture of case-hardened steel specimens in bending. The case-hardened steel is characterized as a material having a gradient of fracture toughness in the case and a constant fracture toughness in the core. Linear elastic fracture mechanics is used to predict load/crack length/displacement relationships and absorbed energy. The model is used to explain the influence of case depth, core fracture toughness and residual stress on the maximum fracture load and the influence of core thickness on absorbed energy.     

Effect of hydrogenation on mechanical properties and tensile fracture mechanism of a high-nitrogen austenitic steel

Austenitic stainless steels are frequently used for hydrogen applications due to their high ductility at low temperatures and lower hydrogen environment embrittlement compared to ferritic steels. We study the effect of electrochemical hydrogen saturation up to 40 h on tensile behavior and fracture mechanisms in high-nitrogen austenitic 17Cr–24Mn–1.3V–0.2C–1.3N steel. Hydrogen saturation weakly influences the characteristic of stress–strain curves, but decreases steel ductility, yield stress, and ultimate tensile stress. Hydrogenation provides a change in steel fracture peculiarities—a hydrogen-assisted thin brittle surface layer of ≈5 μm and ductile subsurface layer of 50–150 μm in width in hydrogen-saturated specimens. The subsurface layer shows ductile transgranular fracture with elongated dimples and flat facets. The central parts of fracture surfaces for hydrogenated specimens show ductile fracture mode similar to hydrogen-free state, but they include numerous secondary cracks both for central part and for transition zone between ductile central part and subsurface layer associated with highest hydrogen saturation. The possible reasons of decrease in hydrogen-associated ductility and change in fracture character are discussed.     

Creep fracture parameter C* solutions for semi-elliptical surface cracks in plates under tensile and bending loads

In order to predict and assess creep life for plate structures with semi-elliptic surface cracks under high temperature condition, the accurate calculation of the creep fracture mechanics parameter C* is a critical step. In this paper, the effects of crack sizes, plate geometries, and material creep properties on the parameter C* have been investigated under tensile and bending loads by extensive finite element analyses. Based on the results, the creep influence functions Hc for calculating C* values were obtained and fitted into equations for surface cracks in plates under both loads. The equations have been verified by finite element calculations. The C* solutions were obtained through these equations which are suitable for wide ranges of crack sizes, plate geometries, and materials.     

Transgranular fracture in low temperature brittle fracture of high nitrogen austenitic steel

Morphological features of transgranular fracture facets in low temperature brittle fracture of 18Cr–18Mn–0.7N high nitrogen austenitic steel have been studied by means of scanning electron microscopy and their formation mechanisms have been discussed. The transgranular fracture facets are fairly coarse compared with intergranular fracture facets and annealing twin boundary fracture facets. There are parallel steps and river patterns on the facets. Dual-surface observation indicated that these patterns are parallel to {111} planes and of strict crystallographic features. Microstructure observation shows that there are a lot of planar deformation structures formed prior to low temperature transgranular fracture. Transgranular fracture originates from microcracks formed at the intersections of the deformation structures on different {111} planes. These microcracks propagate toward adjacent microcracks on different {111} planes, forming transgranular fracture facets with steps and river patterns.     

On the topography of fracture surfaces in bending–torsion fatigue

Fracture surfaces generated under combined bending–torsion fatigue loading in both the low-cycle fatigue and the high-cycle fatigue regions of specimens made of high-strength low-alloy Cr–Al–Mo steel are analysed in terms of topographical characteristics. Parameters reported here are the root mean square roughness, the number of peaks per unit length and the Hurst exponent quantifying various aspects of surface topography. As a main result of the analysis, the critical portion of torque beyond which the character of fracture topography significantly changes is estimated to be within the range of 40–50% of a total loading.     

Grain boundary energy changes during grain growth in nickel and 316L austenitic steel

Abstract

Changes in the energy of a grain boundary (GB) population during selective grain growth in nickel and 316L austenitic steel after critical strain have been studied using the thermal grooves method. It was found that the average GB energy γ_gb increases as a function of the annealing temperature, and consequently as a function of the average grain size d. These changes are interpreted in terms of reactions between GBs during growth. The critical condition for growth to occur is that dγ_gb must be less than (γ_gb/d) dd.

MST/246     

Hardening of 316L stainless steel by laser surface alloying

The goal of this study is to investigate different hardening routes for 316L stainless steel by laser surface alloying. We have investigated the formation of iron-chromium carbides by SiC or carbon incorporation, the alloying with submicronic particles of TiC and the precipitation of titanium carbide from mixtures of Ti and SiC. For each hardening route we present the microstructures and the hardness of the processed surface alloys and the conditions leading to the best compromise between highest hardness, best homogeneity and lowest occurrence of cracks. From these results it can be reasoned that hardening by iron-chromium carbides is the best hardening route and that this surface alloy might be a good candidate for tribological applications.     

A compliance-based approach to measure fracture resistance curve for surface cracked steel plates

This paper proposes a compliance-based approach to determine the fracture resistance $J$ – $R$ curve for surface cracks in high-strength steel (S690) plate specimens in a four-point-bend set up. This study extends the $\eta $ -approach used in the fracture test for the typical specimens with a through-thickness crack, to the surface cracks in plate specimens in calculating the energy release rate from the area below the measured moment versus the crack-plane rotation. The energy release rate, computed from the detailed finite element models using the domain integral approach, confirms a constant $\eta $ value for surface cracked steel plates. Coupled with the post-test sectioning, the unloading compliance method quantifies the extended crack-front profiles ahead of the fatigue pre-cracked surface notch, using the crack-size versus the compliance relationship derived from linear-elastic finite element analyses. The fracture resistance curves thus obtained remain similar at different locations along the crack front and comparable with the fracture resistance measured using a standard side-grooved compact tension specimen at a finite crack extension.     

316L奥氏体不锈钢中时效条件下析出相演变行为的研究

通过定量金相,SEM&EDS、TEM等实验技术分析316L奥氏体不锈钢中析出相随时效时间、温度的变化,并测定析出相的体积分数与尺寸.结合热力学计算表明:在316L奥氏体不锈钢中,经850℃时效处理后,析出相为M23C6型碳化物,且随着时效时间的延长,析出量明显增多,尺寸增大;经650℃时效处理100 h后,主要析出相类型为χ相.     

Effect of thermo-mechanical processing on texture evolution in austenitic stainless steel 316L

In this study we implemented two rolling modes to investigate the strain path effect on deformation and annealing textures of austenitic stainless steel 316L. We applied unidirectional rolling and cross-rolling to achieve up to a 90% reduction in thickness. Results show that for deformed austenite, Brass, Goss and γ-fibre were the main texture components in the unidirectional rolled sample, while Brass was the dominant texture in the cross-rolled sample. In addition, rotated Copper and rotated Cube were the main textures of martensite after 90% reduction for unidirectional rolled and cross-rolled samples, respectively. Results also show that recrystallization texture has a direct correlation to that of deformed austenite since transformed martensite reversion was athermal. After recrystallization, Brass and a combination of Brass and Goss were the dominant textures for cross-rolled and unidirectional rolled samples, respectively.     

Precipitation behaviour of a sensitized AISI type 316 austenitic stainless steel in hydrogen

The purpose of this study was to characterize the precipitation behaviour of AISI type 316 steel in hydrogen. The different precipitates (M₂₃C₆, M₆C), the intermetallicχ-phase and the martensitic phase (α′,ε) were determined by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction techniques. All the specimens were sensitized at 650? C for 24 h. Some samples were carburized up to 2 wt% C. Additions of carbon content decrease the time required for sensitization. Short-term (24 h) exposure of this steel to sensitization temperature results in a complex precipitation reaction of various carbides and intermetallic phases. Hydrogen was introduced by severe cathodic charging at room temperature. This study indicates that by conventional X-ray techniques it is possible to detect those precipitates and their behaviour in a hydrogen environment. The zero shift as observed by X-ray diffraction from the carbides (M₂₃C₆, M₆C) and the intermetallicχ-phase, indicates that those phases absorb far less hydrogen than the austenitic matrix. TEM studies reveal that hydrogen inducesα′ martensite at chromium-depleted grain-boundary zones, near the formation of the carbides.     

Low-temperature carburised AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel: Wear and corrosion behaviour

Low temperature carburising (LTC) is a thermochemical treatment designed so as to achieve a good combination of wear and corrosion resistance in stainless and duplex steels. In this work, the influence of LTC on both corrosion and dry sliding behaviour of AISI 316L was investigated. LTC significantly enhanced surface hardness, due to the formation of the carbon-supersaturated S-phase. Consequently, the wear behaviour (evaluated against different countermaterials) improved, due to increased resistance to plastic deformation, as well as to decreased tendency towards adhesion. In order to evaluate the corrosion behaviour, electrochemical measurements were performed both in conventional environments and in reference conditions for the food industry. The results showed a significantly improved corrosion resistance in chloride environments, where the formation of a C-rich surface layer ennobles the treated steel, even though pitting corrosion was observed at very high anodic potentials. Conversely, the treated steel showed comparable (in acetic acid) or worse (in a sanitising solution) behaviour than the untreated one. In sulphuric acid the treated steel did not passivate, but it corroded at a limiting current density much lower that the critical current density for AISI 316L passivation.     

Effect of pre-strain on grain size distributions in 316H austenitic stainless steel

An experimental study addressing the effect of tensile deformation on recrystallized grain size has been undertaken to explore the conditions leading to abnormal grain growth in Type 316H austenitic stainless steel. Following a solution heat treatment, a Type 316H stainless steel has been subjected to various tensile deformations up to a maximum of approximately 50% strain and then heated at a temperature of 1150 °C for 0.5 h followed by furnace cooling. A fraction of abnormally large grains is observed following a prior strain of approximately 20%. The results are presented, in terms of standard statistical analysis, and also graphically. The graphical presentation provides a clear, visual appreciation of uni- and bi-modal distributions, which may be of general help in other analyses of this nature.     

Tensile ductility and deformation mechanisms of a nanotwinned 316L austenitic stainless steel

A nanotwinned 316 L austenitic stainless steel was prepared by means of surface mechanical grinding treatment.After recovery annealing,the density of dislocations decreases obviously while the average twin/matrix lamella thickness still keeps in the nanometer scale.The annealed nanotwinned sample exhibits a high tensile yield strength of 771 MPa and a considerate uniform elongation of 8%.TEM observations showed that accommodating more dislocations and secondary twinning inside the nanotwins contribute to the enhanced ductility and work hardening rate of the annealed nanotwinned sample.     

Relationship between fracture topography and fracture toughness of a high strength steel

The relationship between fracture topography and the plane strain fracture toughness of Comsteel En25 tempered at nine different temperatures and with crack planes in the R-L, R-C and L-R orientations has been studied. The results show that fracture toughness is qualitatively relatable to the fracture morphology. Due to the shape and alignment of the elongated MnS inclusions, fracture toughness in the L-R orientation was found to be 1.8 times those in the other two orientations. Terrace-type fracture prevailed in the R-L orientation, but this frequently was observed to change to zigzag type fracture in the R-C orientation. However, both these fracture mechanisms were absent in the L-R orientation.