Low cycle fatigue and creep-fatigue interaction behavior of nickel-base superalloy GH4169 at elevated temperature of 650 °C

Total strain-controlled low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests of a nickel based superalloy were performed at 650 °C. Various hold times were introduced at the peak tensile strain to investigate the high-temperature creep-fatigue interaction (CFI) effects under the same temperature. A substantial decrease in fatigue life occurred as the total strain amplitude increased. Moreover, tensile strain holding further reduced fatigue life. The saturation phenomenon of holding effect was found when the holding period reached 120 s. Cyclic softening occurred during the LCF and CFI process and it was related to the total strain amplitude and the holding period. The relationship between life-time and total strain amplitude was obtained by combining Basquin equation and Coffin-Manson equation. The surface and fracture section of the fatigued specimens were observed via scanning electronic microscope (SEM) to determine the failure mechanism.