Multiaxial fatigue behavior of AISI 316L subjected to strain-controlled and ratcheting paths

• Cyclic plastic and ratcheting deformation behavior of AISI 316L.
• Uniaxial, torsional and multiaxial strain-controlled fatigue experiments.
• Non-proportional and ratcheting-induced additional hardening.
• Effect of ratcheting and of loading trajectory on the lifetime endurance.
• Lifetime predictions computed by multiaxial critical plane damage criteria.

To investigate the material behavior of a stainless steel grade AISI 316L, subjected to loading conditions typical for the primary cooling circuit of a light water nuclear reactor, a set of uniaxial, torsional and multiaxial low cycle fatigue and strain-controlled ratcheting tests has been carried out. The main goal of these experiments is to analyze how the cyclic deformation response is influenced by strain amplitudes, loading paths and ratcheting, and to estimate how fatigue life is affected by these elements. Finally, the performance of three advanced multiaxial fatigue criteria (i.e. Smith–Watson–Topper, Fatemi–Socie and Jiang) has been critically evaluated for all the considered loading cases.