Low cycle fatigue behavior of polycrystalline Ni3Al alloys at ambient and elevated temperatures

Abstract

The low cycle fatigue (LCF) resistance of polycrystalline Ni3Al has been evaluated at ambient, intermediate (300 °C), and elevated (600 °C) temperatures using strain rates of 10−2/s and 10−4/s. Testing was conducted on a binary and a Cr-containing alloy of similar stoichiometry and B content (hypostoichiometric, 200 wppm B). Test results were combined with electron microscope investigations in order to evaluate microstructural changes during LCF. At ambient and intermediate temperatures, the cyclic constitutive response of both alloys was similar, and the LCF behavior was virtually rate independent. Under these conditions, the alloys rapidly hardened and then gradually softened for the remainder of the life. Initial hardening resulted from the accumulation of dislocation debris within the deformed microstructure, whereas softening was related to localized disordering. For these experimental conditions, crack initiation resulted within persistent slip bands (PSBs). At the elevated temperature, diffusion-assisted deformation resulted in a rate-dependent constitutive response and crack-initiation characteristics. At the high strain rate (10−2/s), continuous cyclic hardening resulted from the accumulation of dislocation debris. At the low strain rate (10−4/s), the diffusion of dislocation debris to grain boundaries resulted in cyclic softening. The elevated temperature LCF resistance was determined by the effect of the constitutive response on the driving force for environmental embrittlement. Chromium additions were observed to enhance LCF performance only under conditions where crack initiation was environmentally driven.