Environmental and Dwell Effects on the Damage Tolerance Properties of ATI 718Plus® Alloy

Abstract

Fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) and dwell-FCGR tests were conducted at 704ºC in a vacuum environment and compared with data obtained under lab air conditions for various microstructural conditions of ATI 718Plus ® Alloy (718Plus) and Waspaloy. The results indicated that environmental damage has a significant impact on the FCGR characteristics of both alloys, particularly in the near-threshold regime. The dwell fatigue crack propagation behaviour under vacuum conditions displayed identical behaviour irrespective of differences in microstructural features. The observed crack growth rates under vacuum decreased dramatically compared to lab air test results, highlighting the crucial impact of environmental damage on the dwell-fatigue crack propagation resistance of both alloys. The fracture mode for 718Plus was observed to be predominately intergranular in both the FCGR and dwell-FCGR test conditions, with the effect of long-term thermal exposure leading to a larger fraction of transgranular failure.