No abstract

A model has been developed to predict the high temperature cyclic life of single crystal superalloys RR2000 and CMSX‐4 under conditions of creep and fatigue. A combined creep–fatigue model is used, although it is found that failure always occurs by creep or fatigue separately, and that creep–fatigue interaction has a minor influence. Microstructural investigation of a series of interrupted high‐ and low‐frequency tests are presented, these are combined with the results of a series of interrupted creep tests to identify the separate and interactive mechanisms of creep and fatigue. When creep damage is present the material behaves homogeneously. Under these conditions crack growth is initiation controlled, the mechanism of failure is surface or casting pore‐initiated planar crack growth followed by shear on crystallographic planes. As the temperature is lowered or the cyclic frequency increased, the material behaves less homogeneously and shear bands are formed during cycling. Crack growth under these conditions is again initiation controlled and failure is by rapid crystallographic crack growth along shear bands. Such a failure is a distinct fatigue failure and occurs when little creep damage is present. Under certain cyclic conditions, mainly those where the crystallographic failure mechanism is dominant, the material shows an anomalous increase in fatigue resistance with temperature up to approximately 950 °C. This behaviour has been quantified by relating it to the effect of strain rate and temperature on the yield strength of the material.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

An investigation has been undertaken into the creep behavior of the single-crystal superalloy CMSX-4. Creep deformation in the alloy occurs largely through dislocation activity in the ␥ channels. Shearing of the ␥ Ј dislocations is observed, but, at higher temperatures, this does not occur until late in life via the passage of superpartial dislocation pairs. At lower temperatures (1023 K) and high stress levels, shearing of the ␥ Ј precipitates is observed relatively early in the creep curve through the passage of {111}͗112͘ dislocations, which leave superlattice stacking faults (SSFs) in the precipitates. The stress-rupture behavior of CMSX-4 has been modeled using a damage-mechanics technique, where the level of damage required to cause failure is defined by the effective stress reaching the material's ultimate tensile strength (UTS). This technique ensures that short-term rupture data extrapolate back to the UTS. High-temperature steady-state and tertiary creep are modeled using modified damage-mechanics equations, where the strain and damage rates are similar functions of stress. At intermediate operating temperatures of 1023 to 1123 K, the material exhibits pronounced sigmoidal primary creep of up to 4 pct strain, which cannot be modeled using a conventional approach. This transient behavior has been explained by the effect of internal stresses acting on dislocations in the gamma matrix; such an internal stress has been included in the creep law and evolves as a function of the damage-state variable.

No abstract

No abstract