Low cycle fatigue behavior of micro-grain casting K4169 superalloy at room temperature

The strain-controlled low cycle fatigue tests were carried out at 298 ?K for the newly developed micro-grain casting K4169 superalloy, and the cyclic stress response, deformation and fracture behaviors of the alloy were studied. The results show that the fatigue life of the alloy was increased by more than two times compared with other casting K4169 alloys. This can be partly attributed to grain refinement impeding crack initiation and propagation. When the strain amplitude was in plastic range (Δε_t/2 ?≥ ?0.5%), the alloy displayed a short period of initial cyclic stability followed by cyclic softening to fracture. By observing dislocation configurations, only a few dislocations moved around grain boundaries at initial cycles, leading to short cyclic stability. Afterwards, dislocations in the slip bands cut γ" phase continuously leading to cyclic softening. When the strain amplitude was in elastic range (Δε_t/2 ?≤ ?0.4%), the alloy exhibited elastic deformation and the peak stress kept stable. In addition, the crack initiation site changed from the MC carbides to the persistent slip bands on surface with increasing strain amplitudes.