ISOTHERMAL AND THERMOMECHANICAL FATIGUE OF A NICKEL-BASE SUPERALLOY

Abstract

Thermal gradients arising during transient regimes of start-up and shutdown operations produce a complex thermal and mechanical fatigue loading which limits the life of turbine blades and other engine components operating at high temperatures. More accurate and reliable assessment under non-isothermal fatigue becomes therefore mandatory. This paper investigates the nickel base superalloy CM 247LC-DS under isothermal low cycle fatigue (LCF) and thermomechanical fatigue (TMF). Test temperatures range from 600°C to 1,000°C. The behavior of the alloy is strongly affected by the temperature variation, especially in the 800°C-1,000°C range. The Ramberg-Osgood equation fits very well the observed isothermal behavior for the whole temperature range. The simplified non-isothermal stress-strain model based on linear plasticity proposed to represent the thermo-mechanical fatigue behavior was able to reproduce the observed behavior for both in-phase and out-of-phase TMF cycling.

Keywords

• Superalloy; Isothermal fatigue; Thermomechanical fatigue.