A B S T R A C TThe ferrite phase of cast duplex stainless steels becomes embrittled after thermal ageing, leading to a significant decrease in fracture properties. In the present paper, the influence of ageing and solidification structure on the fatigue crack growth rates (FCGRs) and on the fatigue crack growth mechanisms in a cast duplex stainless steel is studied. FCGRs measured at room temperature increase slightly after ageing at 400 • C, due to ferrite cleavage and to the resulting irregular shape of the crack front. The crack propagates without any preferential path by successive ruptures of ferrite and austenite phases. The macroscopic crack propagation plane depends on the crystallographic orientation of the ferrite grain. Secondary cracks can appear due to the complex solidification structure. This in turn influences the FCGR. The fatigue crack closure level decreases with increasing ageing. This can be explained by a decrease in the kinematic cyclic hardening of these materials.Keywords cast duplex stainless steels; crack closure effect; crack propagation; EBSD; fatigue.
N O M E N C L A T U R Ea = crack length B = specimen thickness K = K max -K min K eff = K max -K op K max = stress intensity factor at maximum load K min = stress intensity factor at minimum load K op = stress intensity factor at opening load P = applied load P max = maximum applied load P min = minimum applied load P op = crack opening load R = isotropic part of hardening W = specimen width X = kinematic part of hardening α = ferrite γ = austenite ε = total strain ε p = plastic strain σ = stress
I N T R O D U C T I O NDuplex stainless steels containing up to 30% ferrite (α) in an austenite (γ ) matrix are used for the fabrication of pipes in nuclear power plants. These materials combine the qualities of each phase: the ferrite resistance to corrosion and to hot cracking and the austenite toughness. 1 However, it has been established that microstructural transformations occur in ferrite after long time exposures at the service temperature, i.e., about 300 • C.