A Comparative Evaluation of the Effect of Low Cycle Fatigue and Creep–Fatigue Interaction on Surface Morphology and Tensile Properties of 316L(N) Stainless Steel

In the present work, the deformation and damage evolution in 316L(N) stainless steel during low cycle fatigue (LCF) and creep–fatigue interaction (CFI) loadings have been compared by evaluating the residual tensile properties. Towards this, LCF and CFI experiments were carried out at constant strain amplitude of ±0.6 pct, strain rate of 3 × 10 −3 s −1 and temperature of 873 K (600 °C). During CFI tests, 30 minutes hold period was introduced at peak tensile strain. Experiments were interrupted up to various levels of fatigue life viz . 5, 10, 30, 50, and 60 pct of the total fatigue life ( N f ) under both LCF and CFI conditions. The specimens subjected to interrupted fatigue loadings were subsequently monotonically strained at the same strain rate and temperature up to fracture. Optical and scanning electron microscopy and profilometry were conducted on the untested and tested samples to elucidate the damage evolution during the fatigue cycling under both LCF and CFI conditions. The yield strength (YS) increased sharply with the progress of fatigue damage and attained saturation within 10 pct of N f under LCF condition. On the contrary, under CFI loading condition, the YS continuously increased up to 50 pct of N f , with a sharp increase of YS up to 5 pct of N f followed by a more gradual increase up to 50 pct of N f . The difference in the evolution of remnant tensile properties was correlated with the synergistic effects of the underlying deformation and damage processes such as cyclic hardening/softening, oxidation, and creep. The evolution of tensile properties with prior fatigue damage has been correlated with the change in surface roughness and other surface features estimated by surface replica technique and fractography.