The fatigue crack initiation at the interface between matrix and δ-ferrite in 304L stainless steel

Abstract

It is well known that austenitic stainless steels have good mechanical properties and good corrosion resistance at high temperatures and are widely used in high temperature application. However, representative 304L stainless steel among austenitic stainless steels has the undesirable {delta}-ferrite in {gamma} matrix unavoidably because of the limitation of the manufacturing process. While large amounts of {delta}-ferrite in the austenitic stainless steels can give rise to a decrease in the hot workability, the absence of {delta}-ferrite in 304L stainless steel can be the cause of longitudinal facial crack and shortness of continuous cast slab. However, there are few reported papers related with the effect of {delta}-ferrite nucleating the initial crack at the interface between matrix and {delta}-ferrite on fatigue properties at high temperature. In the present work, a comparison of fatigue life with the amount of {delta}-ferrite was examined and to find out the mechanism of crack initiation caused by {delta}-ferrite, dislocation behavior near the interface between {delta}-ferrite and matrix during fatigue testing was analyzed. To analyze the dislocation character near the interface between the matrix and {delta}-ferrite during a low cycle fatigue test, trace analysis was applied. Using Burgers vector and dislocation line direction, calculated by trace analysis, itmore » was possible to obtain some characteristic of dislocation behaviors near the interface.« less