Factors influencing fatigue crack propagation behavior of austenitic steels

In the present study, the fatigue crack propagation (FCP) behaviors of austenitic single phase steels, including STS304, Fe18Mn and Fe22Mn with different grain sizes ranging from 12 mu m to 98 mu m were investigated. The FCP tests were conducted in air at an R ratio of 0.1 using compact tension specimens and the crack paths and fracture surfaces were documented by using an SEM. The highest Delta K-th value of 9.9MPa center dot m(1/2) was observed for the Fe18Mn specimen, followed by 5.2MPa center dot m(1/2) for the Fe22Mn specimen and 4.6MPa center dot m(1/2) for the STS304 specimen, showing a substantial difference in the near-threshold FCP resistance for each microstructure. The crack path and fractographic analyses suggested that the near-threshold FCP behavior of these austenitic steels was largely influenced by the degree of slip planarity, as determined by stacking fault energy and grain size, rather than the tensile properties. In the Paris' regime, the slip planarity still played an important role while the tensile properties began to affect the FCP. The FCP behavior of austenitic steels with different microstructural features are discussed based on detailed fractographic and micrographic observations.