IN-SITU HIGH TEMPERATURE LOW CYCLE FATIGUE STUDY OF SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY EVOLUTION IN NICKEL SUPERALLOY

In-situ Low Cycle Fatigue test (LCF) at temperature 635 degrees C have been performed in Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with Electron Backscatter Diffraction analysis (EBSD) on a small dog-bone-shaped specimen of cast Inconel 713LC superalloy. The aim of the work was to study early stage fatigue damage at high temperature by the observations of the characteristic surface relief evolution and crystallographic characterization changes by EBSD. The detail of slip bands shape was checked by FIB and AFM microscopes. The LCF test was conducted on GATAN stage with pre tilted position and constant stress amplitude of total cycle number of 20. The relief produced in the first cycle determines the other locations of the localized cyclic slip to the primary slip planes (111). The relief was modified in the next cycles but without forming additionally new slip traces in the primary system. Based on EBSD analysis before and after LCF, the orientation of two grains was changed which caused activation of second slip system. The damage mechanism evolution is closely connected with the cyclic strain localization to the persistent slip bands where the fatigue cracks were initiated