Fatigue Crack Nucleation at Σ3(1 1 2) Boundary in a Ferritic Stainless Steel

Abstract

The effect of a geometrical relationship between a grain boundary (GB) plane and a tensile axis on intergranular fatigue cracking along Σ3(1 1 2) twin boundaries has been investigated in Fe-30%Cr alloy crystals. Fatigue experiments were carried out on the three kinds of the specimens containing the Σ3(1 1 2) twin boundary. It was found that the fatigue cracking behavior was sensitive to the geometry of the GB plane. In a specimen where both the GB plane and a slip vector lying in the GB plane in adjacent grains are inclined to the tensile axis at 45°, the fatigue cracks were nucleated preferentially along the twin boundary at a stress amplitude of 170 MPa. The specimen with the GB plane normal to the tensile axis showed that the fatigue crack was initiated from a slip band formed within a constituent grain at a stress amplitude of 300 MPa. When the GB plane was inclined to the tensile axis but the slip vector lying in the GB plane was normal to the tensile axis, development of additional slips formed perpendicular to the GB plane were observed at a specific site of the GB. Initiation of intergranular fatigue cracks at the site was recognized at a stress amplitude of 250 MPa. It can be suggested that the GB plane normal to the tensile axis provides the highest fatigue performance among them. The difference in the cracking property among these specimens could be understood in terms of the effective Schmid factor derived from elastically incompatible stress.