Effect of microstructure refinement on low cycle fatigue behavior of Alloy 718

Abstract

Microstructure refinement down to d ∼ 0.1-1 μm is known to enhance processing properties of hard-to-deform materials and particularly can be used for facilitating superplastic forming or roll-forming. However refined microstructure can compromise service properties, particularly fatigue properties. In the present work, the fatigue behavior of the fine-grained Alloy 718 has been investigated. A number of fine-grained conditions with a grain size ∼0.1-1 μm were produced using multiple forging with a graduate decrease of the forging temperature. Part of the forged fine-grained conditions was also subjected to conventional solution annealing and ageing. In this case a small grain size was controlled by precipitates of the δ phase located on grain boundaries. Low cycle fatigue tests of the fine-grained conditions were carried out at room and elevated temperatures. The obtained properties are compared with those of the Alloy 718 in the coarse-grained conditions. The effect of the grain size on the fatigue strength of the fine-grained Alloy 718 is discussed in terms of the microstructure evolution and fracture mode. © 2014 Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences.