Analysis of damage behaviour based on EBSD method under creep-fatigue conditions for polycrystalline nickel base superalloys

In order to detect creep-fatigue damage before the crack initiation stage, an investigation into damage behaviour based on the electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) method for a polycrystalline nickel base superalloy has been carried out. The average misorientation within grains increases linearly up to the initiation of cracks with the increase in creep strains. Even if stress distributions exist by stress concentration, assessment in all the damage areas allowed the evaluation of creep damage regardless of geometrical influence. Furthermore, the influence of strain rates, introducing fatigue and testing temperatures are hardly observed in the misorientation analysis. Misorientation almost corresponded to inelastic strain regardless of those influences. Quite a small misorientation caused by fatigue led to an equivalent result between creep conditions and creep-fatigue conditions. It is concluded that the misorientation analysis of damaged materials based on the EBSD method allows the quantitative estimation of creep strain and the assessment of remaining creep fracture life.