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The improvement in low cycle fatigue life created by shot peening ferritic heat resistant steel was investigated in components of varying geometries based on those found in conventional power station steam turbine blades. It was found that the shape of the component did not affect the efficacy of the shot peening process, which was found to be beneficial even under the high stress amplitude three point bend loads applied. Furthermore, by varying the shot peening process parameters and considering fatigue life it has been shown that the three surface effects of shot peening; roughening, strain hardening and the generation of a compressive residual stress field must be included in remnant life models as physically separate entities. The compressive residual stress field during plane bending low cycle fatigue has been experimentally determined using X-ray diffraction at varying life fractions and found to be retained in a direction parallel to that of loading and to only relax to 80% of its original magnitude in a direction orthogonal to loading. This result, which contributes to the retention of fatigue life improvement in low cycle fatigue conditions, has been discussed in light of the specific stress distribution applied to the components. The ultimate aim of the research is to apply these results in a life assessment methodology which can be used to justify a reduction in the length of scheduled plant overhauls. This will result in significant cost savings for the generating utility. KeywordsLow cycle fatigue, stress concentration, shot peening, residual stresses, ferritic heat resisting

The natural initiation and growth of short cracks in Inconel ® 718 U-notch specimens has been studied at 600 o C in air. U notches were introduced through broaching, and hardness traces and optical microscopy on cross sections through the U notch broaching showed that the broaching process had introduced a deformed, work hardened layer. Fatigue tests were conducted under load control using a 1-1-1-1 trapezoidal waveform, on specimens with as-broached and polished U-notches. Multi-site crack initiation occurred in the notch root. Many of the cracks initiated at bulge-like features formed by volume expansion of oxidising (Nb,Ti)C particles. In unstressed samples, oxidation of (Nb,Ti)C particles occurred readily, producing characteristic surface eruptions. Scanning electron microscopy on metallographic sections revealed some sub-surface (Nb,Ti)C oxidation and localised matrix deformation around oxidised particles. A mechanism for crack initiation by carbide expansion during oxidation is discussed. Surface short crack growth rates in the notch root of polished specimens were measured using an acetate replica technique. Observed short crack growth rates were approximately constant across a wide range of crack lengths. However, there was a transition to rapid, accelerating crack growth once cracks reached several hundred microns in length. This rapid propagation in the latter stages of the fatigue life was assisted by crack coalescence. Polishing the U-notch to remove broaching marks resulted in a pronounced increase in fatigue life. IntroductionNickel-base superalloys like Inconel ® 718 (IN718) are used extensively for turbine discs and other components in industrial and aerospace gas turbines. Since turbine discs are safety-critical components, considerable effort is expended in determining their safe operating life. The lifing procedure adopted must enable the reliable prediction of the safe life of the disc, without being overly conservative. Once engines are in service, regular inspection of the engines and refinements of lifing models may enable life-extension programs to be considered. In the traditional predicted safe life philosophy, the life is declared based on laboratory specimen and component testing. In recent years a damage-tolerant approach to lifing has been adopted, in which it is accepted that components contain defects or inhomogeneities from which cracks can initiate. Assuming an initial flaw size c o , the fatigue life is determined as the number of cycles required to propagate the crack to some critical size c c . The initial size c o can be based on the maximum defect size present in the material, or on the minimum defect size detectable by nondestructive testing (NDT) [1]. Selection of c c is based on knowledge of the fracture toughness of the material, the limit load, the maximum allowable strain or maximum permitted compliance change for a particular component. Damage-tolerant lifing requires accurate information on fatigue crack initiation and growth rates. Fatigue lives are determi...

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Abstract:In this study, short fatigue crack initiation and early growth behaviour under low cycle fatigue conditions was investigated in a shot peened low pressure steam turbine blade material. Four different surface conditions of notched samples have been considered: polished, ground, T0 (industry applied shot peened process) and T1 (a less intense shot peened process). Fatigue crack aspect ratio (a/c) evolution in the early stages of crack growth in polished and shot peened cases was found to be quite different: the former was more microstructure dependent (e.g. stringer initiation) while the crack morphology in the shot peened cases was more related to the shot peening process (i.e. surface roughness, position with respect to the compressive stress and strain hardening profiles). Under similar strain range conditions, the beneficial effect of shot peening (in the T0 condition) was retained even at a high strain level (Δε 11 =0.68%), N f, ground < N f, T1 < N f, polished < N f, T0 . The a/c evolution effects were incorporated in K-evaluations and used in calculating da/dN from surface replica data. Apparent residual stress (based on crack driving force ΔK difference) was applied to describe the benefit of shot peening and was seen to extend significantly below the measured residual stress profile, indicating the importance of the strain hardening layer and stress redistribution effects during crack growth.2