CORROSION FATIGUE OF 17-4PH TURBINE BLADE STEEL

IN CHLORIDE ENVIRONMENTS
R . Viswanathan
Electric Power Research I n s t i t u t e , Pa10 Alto, Ca 94303
J . E. Wittig
Stanford University, Menlo Park, Ca 94305
a nd
B. C. Syrett
Electric Power Research I n s t i t u t e , Palo Alto, Ca 94303

ABSTRACT

The e f f e c t of tempering temperature and shot peening on the microstructure a n d

corrosion fatigue behavior of 17-4 PH s t a i n l e s s s t e e l has been investigated.
Increasing the tempering temperature from 538•‹C (1000•‹F) t o 650•‹C (1200•‹F)
resulted in the formation of considerable amounts of austenite which could be
subsequently transformed t o u n t empered martensi t e in the surface 1ayers of the
specimen by shot peening. The s u s c e p t i b i l i t y of the steel t o corrosion fatigue i
6 w t % f e r r i c chloride was reduced by increasing t h e tempering temperature due t o
reduced rates of crack growth associated with t h e lower strength level of the
s t e e l . Shot peening of t h e sample tempered a t 650•‹C appeared t o r e s u l t in
sl i g h t l y increased suscept ibil i t y t o corrosion f a t i g u e , b u t had 1i t t l e effect on
the samples tempered a t 538•‹C.

INTRODUCTION

A number of e l e c t r i c u t i l i t i e s in t h e US have experienced blade f a i l u r e s in the

row preceding the l a s t row in the low pressure steam turbines. The f a i l u r e s are
associated predominantly with t r a i l i n g edge cracks t h a t frequently s t a r t from ,

pits. Some of the blades t h a t have f a i l e d are made from a m a r t e n s i t i c , preci-

p i t a t i o n hardened s t a i n l e s s steel containing 17% chromium and 4% nickel, commonlj
known as 17-4 PH s t a i n l e s s s t e e l . Prior t o i n s t a l l a t i o n the blades a r e solution
annealed a t 1038•‹C (1900•‹F) and tempered a t 650•‹C (1200•‹F) followed by shot
peening t o induce, compressive residual s t r e s s e s a t the surface. A prel imi nary
analysis of the f a i l u r e s was conducted by Rettig He observed t h a t the
tempering treatment a t 650•‹C had resulted in large amounts of reformed austenite
i n t h e tempered martensitic matrix s t r u c t u r e of the blades. In addition, t h e shot
peening treatment had caused a transformation of t h e austenite i n t o untempered
martensite in the surface regions. Rettig suggested t h a t the presence of the
re-formed austenite and i t s subsequent transformation t o martensite may have
contributed to premature environmental l y assisted f a i l ure of the blades. An
investigation was therefore undertaken by EPRI t o investigate t h e e f f e c t s , i f any,
of t h e reformed austenite or of the untempered martensite induced by shot peening
on t h e p i t t i n g s u s c e p t i b i l i t y and on the overall corrosion fatigue l i f e of 17-4 PH
s t a i n l e s s s t e e l . Results f r m the p i t t i n g s u s c e p t i b i l i t y experiments are reported
in a companion paper '. Results of t h e corrosion fatigue experiments are reported
and discussed in t h e present paper.

EXPER IMENTAL PROCEDURE

17-4 PH s t a i n l e s s steel of the chemical cornpositon shown in Table 1 was procured
from t h e Armco Steel Co. in the form of bar stock in the 1038•‹C (1900•‹F) solution
treated condition. Specimen blanks f o r f a t i g u e t e s t s were tempered f o r 4 hours a t
538, 593, 620, 650 and 677•‹C and then furnace cooled. Some specimens tempered a t
538 and 650•‹C were s e l e c t i v e l y shot peened using a procedure s i m i l a r t o t h a t given
t o 17-4 PH Stainless Steel Turbine Blades. The peening was performed with cast
steel shax of s i z e S230 t o an Almen i n t e n s i t y of 0.004" t o 0.006", as per standard
procedures described i n Ref. 3. The amounts of reformed austenite following t h e
temperi ng and shot peeni ng treat.ment were determi ned using a standard X-ray
technique, which compared two austenite peaks and two f e r r i t e peaks.
Fatigue and corrosion fatigue t e s t s were performed in a deflection controlled
reversed bending mode a t room temperature a t a frequency of 12 Hz using a variable
speed fatigue machine manufactured by Fatigue Dynamics Inc. (Model VSP 150). The
samples were in the form of plates with a tapered gage length so t h a t a constant
moment imposed on the specimen would r e s u l t in a constant and uniform s t r e s s along
the gage length. Figure 1 provides a schematic i l l u s t r a t i o n of the fatigue t e s t
machine and the specimen employed. The baseline fatigue t e s t s were performed i n
laboratory a i r . Corrosion fatigue t e s t s were performed in a 6 w t % f e r r i c chloride
solution using the 538•‹C and 650•‹C temper samples i n t h e as-heat t r e a t e d and in
the shot peened conditions. The solution was a1 lowed t o drip continuously a t a
controlled r a t e on t o an absorbent paper "bandage" wrapped around t h e gage length
of the fatigue specimen.
- RESULTS
Results of hardness and X-ray measurements on specimens following various
treatments a r e summarized i n Table 2. These r e s u l t s show an increase i n t h e
austenite content with increasing tempering temperature, reaching a peak value a t
650•‹C. Shot peening resulted in complete transformation of a l l the a u s t e n i t e a t
t h e surface into martensite. Results of duplicate measurements showed good
reproduci bi 1i t y in the austeni t e content determination.
Curves of s t r e s s versus number of cycles t o f a i l u r e (5-N curves) in a i r f o r t h e
various heat treatments a r e shown i n Figure 2. If the s t r e s s level f o r f a i l u r e in
107 cycles were chosen as an index of the fatigue strength, i t i s found t o
decrease with increasing tempering temperature, i . e m , decreasing hardness. The
range of fatigue strengths i s , however, 515 t o 555 MPa, a spread of only 40 NPa.
The spread in fatigue strength i s surprisingly small in view of the f a c t t h a t the
hardness values range from 30 t o 41 Rc.

S-N curves obtained in the a 6 wt % FeC13 solution a t room temperature a r e shown

i n Figure 3. Data from samples tempered a t 538•‹C and a t 650•‹C are included i n
t h i s figure i n t h e as heat t r e a t e d condition and a f t e r shot peening. The f i g u r e
c l e a r l y shows a reversal in the ranking of fatigue strengths obtained in a i r and
i n FeC13 f o r t h e t w o heat treatments. I n a i r , material with the 538•‹C temper had
t h e higher fatigue strength, b u t in the presence of t h e corrosive environment the
f a t i g u e strength i s higher f o r material tempered a t 650•‹C. The decrease i n
f a t i g u e strength due t o t h e corrosive environment i s about 443 MPa (555 t o
112 MPa) f o r t h e 538•‹C temper and about 319 MPa (515 t o 196 MPa) f o r t h e 650•‹C
temper. The data f o r t h e shot peened samples previously tempered a t 538OC almost
superimpose on those f o r t h e unpeened as-heat treated sampl es. Samples tempered
a t 650•‹C, however, show a reduction in corrosion fatigue strength due t o shot
peeni ng .
The effect of minor variations in fatigue frequency on t h e corrosion f a t i g u e l i f e
was examined by conducting a few additional t e s t s at 5 Hz and 50 Hz a t a s t r e s s
range of 560 MPa. Results of these t e s t s are shown in Table 3. They show a
s l ight tendency f o r the corrosion fatigue 1i f e t o decrease upon decreasing t h e
frequency from 50 Hz to 12 Hz b u t l i t t l e or no further decrease in f a t i g u e l i f e
occurred upon decreasing the frequency from 12 Hz t o 5 Hz. Duplicate t e s t s
conducted a t a given frequency indicate excel l e n t reproducibility of r e s u l t s .
Metal lographic examination of the corrosion fatigue samples showed numerous p i t s
a t the surface. The crack responsible f o r f i n a l f a i l u r e always started from t h e
root of one of the p i t s , as shown in Figure 4. There was no evidence t o indicate
t h a t e i t h e r p i t i n i t i a t i o n or the crack progagation had a preference f o r
intergranular s i t e s . No significant differences could be detected in terms of
s i z e or the number of p i t s between t h e various samples tested.

DISCUSSION
The e f f e c t of temperi ng temperature on the corrosion fatigue behavior observed in
the study i s generally in line with t h e behavior of high strength s t e e l s and can
be rationalized in terms of differences in y i e l d strength. In t h e case of f a t i g u e
r e s i s t a n c e in a i r , t h e higher yield strength material (tempered a t 538•‹C) has
higher fatigue strength due to higher resistance t o crack nucleation. In
corrosion fatigue on the other hand, t h e high strength steel i s more s i g n i f i c a n t l y
degraded than t h e lower strength s t e e l tempered a t 650•‹C. Here, t h e crack
nucleation process i s f a c i l i t a t e d by t h e rapid i n i t i a t i o n and growth of p i t s and
corrosion fatigue behaviour i s controlled by the crack growth r a t e . The p i t s
provide local s t r e s s concentration and the occluded solution c e l l chemistry t h a t
favor corrosion fatigue crack propagation. Results of a companion study has
demonstrated that the p i t t i n g s u s c e p t i b i l i t y of the materials tempered a t 538 and
a t 650•‹C i s essential l y independent of tempering temperature i n several chl oride
environments including the 6 wt% FeC13 solution used in the present corrosion
f a t i g u e studies2. This supports the belief t h a t the differences in corrosion
f a t i g u e strength between the samples tempered a t 538 and 650•‹C can be a t t r i b u t e d
primarily t o differences in crack growth r a t e s . This i s consistent with the
r e s u l t s of Crooker, Bogar and cures4 which show that in precracked specimens t h e
r a t e of fatigue crack growth increases with increasing strength level in 17-4 PH
s t a i n l e s s steel in a i r and in seawater environments.
The e f f e c t s of shot peening on corrosion f a t i g u e are somewhat d i f f i c u l t t o
i n t e r p r e t . The f a c t t h a t adverse e f f e c t s of peening seem t o be present a t s t r e s s
1eve1 s be1 ow 280 MPa only in the samples tempered a t 650•‹C could be associated
with t h e presence of untempered martensi t e since only these samples would contai n
reformed austenite which woul d transform t o untempered martensite on peening.
Other potential e f f e c t s of peening, namely creation of surface compressive
s t r e s s e s and surface roughening would be expected t o be the same i n a1 1 samples
independent of tenperi ng temperature. However, t h e precise role of t h e untempered
martensite in the surface layers, on t h e corrosion fatigue i s d i f f i c u l t t o
understand especially in the l i g h t of t h e companion study on p i t t i n g i n which i t
was de~nonstrated t h a t t h e pitting resistance was independent of tempering
temperature f o r samples in e i t h e r the as tempered or shot peened conditions. A
f u r t h e r c m p l i c a t i o n in t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h e e f f e c t s of shot peening i s t h a t
a t high s t r e s s l e v e l s shot peening seems t o be beneficial. I t i s possible t h a t
t h e observed e f f e c t s of peening a r e merely due t o s c a t t e r i n the d a t a . Additiona
t e s t s are needed before f i rm conc1usions can be drawn regarding the e f f e c t s of
shot peening.
I t seems appropriate t o discuss the relevence of the present r e s u l t s t o conditions
t h a t might actually e x i s t in low pressure turbines. While i t i s true t h a t a 6 wt%
FeC13 solution i s a r e l a t i v e l y aggressive environment, i t i s not t o t a l l y untypical
of turbine environments. Analysis of deposits from numerous 1ow pressure turbines
have shown t h a t the average concentration of chlorides can be 5% in turbines
connected to once-t hrough boilers5. Maximum concentrat ions of chlorides as hi gh
.
as 45% have also been observed 5 An interesting comparison can also be made
between the r e s u l t s in 6 w t % FeC13 and other r e s u l t s recently obtained by
Westinghouse investigators4 in 22% NaCl environments, as shown in Table 4. The
degradation of fatigue strength due t o the corrosive environment i s expressed in
the table as the r a t i o of the f a t i g u e strength i n t h e t e s t environment t o t h a t in
the reference environment. In the Westinghouse t e s t s , deionized water was chosen
as t h e innoccuous medium t h a t served as the reference condition. Although the
Westinghouse t e s t s were conducted a t a s l i g h t l y higher temperature ( a t 80•‹C) than
i n t h e present study, canparison of the r e s u l t s can s t i l l be made in terms of t h e
degradation f a c t o r . The degradation in fatigue strength i n f e r r i c chloride
observed in t h i s study i s comparable t o t h a t obtained in t h e 22% NaCl solution
under acidic conditions. Local ized conditions of high chloride ion concentrat ions
and low pH can e x i s t i n the dry-wet t r a n s i t i o n stages of low pressure turbines and
reductions in the fatigue strength of blades of t h e magnitudes discussed here a r e
not, therefore, u n r e a l i s t i c . Results described in Table 4 also suggest t h a t the
r o l e of the corrosive environment during corrosion fatigue may t o a large degree
be t h a t of i n i t i a t i n g a "notch" since fatigue strength degradation due t o a
mechanical notch (kt=2.5) i s comparable t o t h a t due t o corrosion.

CONCLUS I ONS

Based on t e s t s in a 6 wt % f e r r i c chloride solution a t room temperature i t i s

concl uded t h a t

1. The s u s c e p t i b i l i t y to f a i l u r e by corrosion fatigue i s reduced

i f the tempering temperature i s increased from 538 t o 650•‹C,
and t h i s can be explained i n terms of reduced creck growth
rates occuring at lower strength levels, Presence of reformed
austenite does not appear t o play a major role.
 2. A t low s t r e s s levels, shot peening appears to have a s l i g h t l y
adverse e f f e c t on the corrosion fatigue bahavior of sampl es
tempered a t 650•‹C b u t has no e f f e c t on samples tempered a t
538OC.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The encouragement and valuable suggestions provided by Dr. R. I. J a f f e e

and Mr. D . N. Poole throughout t h i s work i s appreciated.

REFERENCES

1. Rettig, T . , EPRI Report W S 78-114, "Low Pressure Steam Turbine Blade

Failures," D e t r o i t , July 1980, p. 4-7.

2. S y r e t t , B. C . , Wing, S.S., and Viswanathan, R . , "Effect of

Microstructure on P i t t i n g of 17-4 pH Turbine Blade Steel in Chloride
Environments," t o be published, Electric Power Research I n s t . ,
Palo Alto, Ca., 34303.
3. "Heat Treating, Cleaning and Finishing," Metals Handbook, Vol. 2 ,
8th Ed., American Society f o r Metals 1964, pp. 400-405.

4. Crooker, T. W., Bogar, R. D. and Cures, W. R., "Effects of Flowing

Natural Seawater and Electrochemical Potent i a1 on Fatigue Crack -
Growth in Several High Strength Marine A1 loys," in Corrosion Fatigue
Technology, ASTM STP 642, 1978, pp. 189-201.

5. Bates, R. C. and Cunningham, J . W . , Second Annual Report of EPRI

Project RP912, "Corrosion Fatigue of Steam Turbine Blading Materials
in Operational Environments," 1980.
 Table 1 - Nominal Chemical Composition of 17-4 PH Stainless Steel

Table 2 - Effect of Tempering Temperature and Shot Peening on the

Microstructure and Hardness of 17-4 PH Steel

Tempe r i ng Austenite Ha dness

Temperat w e , "C content, % 4
538 2,3

538 + shot peened

650 + shot peened

Table 3 - Effect of Frequency on the Corrosion Fatigue Life

a t Stress Range of 560 MPA

Tempering Temperature
of Specimen Frequency, Hz Cycles to F a i l u r e
538•‹C P
 Table 4 - Reduction in Fatigue Strength of 17-4 PH S t e e l , Tempered a t
650•‹C Due t o Various Chloride Environments

Envi ronment Fatigue Strength,

Test Condition MPa ~ e ~ r a dion'
at Reference
Air, 25•‹C 1 This study
II

Deionized water,
80•‹C
22% NaCl, deaerated,
80•‹C pH=4
22% NaCl, aerated,
80•‹C pH-4
22% NaCl, deaerated,
80•‹C pH=7
22% NaCl , deaerated,
80•‹C pH=lO
Deionized water, 210*
80•‹C Notched Bar

+ Degradation i s defined as the r a t i o

Fatigue strength in t e s t environment
Fatigue strength in reference environment
where the reference environnlent i s a i r i n t h e present study and deionized
water in Reference 4 experiments.
* l o 7 cycle fatigue strength based on t e s t s a t conventional frequencies.
All others are 10' cycle fatigue strength values based on ultrasonic
fatigue t e s t s a t 20 kHz.
 16.51 rnm n

Figure 1. (a) Schematic illustration of the variable speed plate fatigue

machine and (b) tapered fatigue specimen.
 910

840 Tempered at ("C)

0 538
0 593
2
h

770 A 620
2
V 650
V

Q)
0,
700 0 677
u
(I)
(I)

E
;j 630 -

560 -

490
1o4 105 106 107 I08
Number of Cycles to Failure

Figure 2. Fatigue curves in air for 17-4 PH stainless steel samples

tempered in the range 538-677%.
 Number of Cycles to Failure

Figure 3. Fatigue (S-N) curves for 17-4 stainless steel samples tested in
air and in 6 wt% FeCI3.
 magnification 20OX

Figure 4 . Scanning e l e c t r o n micrograph o f t h e f r a c t u r e

s u r f a c e o f a corrosion f a t i g u e sample i l l u s t r a t i n g
t h e i n i t i a t i o n o f f a i l u r e from t h e r o o t ~ f a p i t .