Fatigue Properties of Ultra-Fine Grain Austenitic Stainless Steel and the Effect of Hydrogen

Abstract

The fatigue properties of ultra-fine grain austenitic steel (UFG16-10), which has a 1 μm average grain size, were studied as part of the project aimed at the development of high-strength low-cost stainless steels for hydrogen service. The fatigue properties of the UFG16-10 were compared with that of a coarse grain material with the same chemical composition (CG16-10) and two kinds of commercial steels, JIS SUS316 and JIS SUH660. The fatigue strength of the UFG16-10 was 2.8 times higher than that of the CG16-10. The effect of hydrogen on the fatigue limit of the UFG16-10 was not significant. However, the fatigue life of the UFG16-10 was reduced by hydrogen in the short life regime. In the fatigue crack growth test, the UFG16-10 showed a good crack growth resistance that was equivalent to that of the SUH660 and significantly higher than that of the SUS316. However, the crack growth rate was significantly accelerated by hydrogen. The cause of the hydrogen-assisted fatigue crack growth of the UFG16-10 was transformation of the microstructure at the crack tip from austenite to strain-induced martensite. This was also the cause of the reduced fatigue life of the hydrogen-charged UFG16-10.