Modeling of subsurface ceramic inclusions in metallic matrices

All engineering materials have the potential to contain inhomogeneities that can act as initiators for fatigue cracks during cyclic loading. One class of inhomogeneity that can occur as a result of the processes used to create metallic materials is a ceramic inclusion, typically resulting from the raw material contamination during the melting process. This article examines the predicted behavior of hard ceramic inclusions in a nickel-base superalloy metallic matrix. Compressive residual stresses are created in the inclusion during cool down from a stress-free state at high temperature. The influence of the proximity of the inclusion to the surface of the matrix material is examined, together with the impact of subsequent uniaxial loading on the stress field in the inclusion and in the surrounding material. The stress field in the ceramic inclusion is observed to transition from compressive to tensile as a function of the proximity of the inclusion to the surface of the material and the applied uniaxial stress field. For deep subsurface inclusions, the uniaxial stress field required to achieve a tensile stress in the inclusion is close to the yield stress of the material. The sensitivity of this critical stress to material cyclic hardening behavior and to the temperature difference between the stress-free state and the operating state is also explored. The significance of these modeling results is discussed in terms of the sensitivity of nickel-base superalloys to crack formation and growth from ceramic inclusions and hence the impact on probabilistic fatigue life assessments of the presence, location and size of the ceramic inclusions.