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Procedia Engineering 00 (2012) 000–000

6th International Conference on Creep, Fatigue and Creep-Fatigue Interaction [CF-6]

Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior of 316LN Stainless Steel with

different Nitrogen contents
M. Nani Babu*, B. Shashank Dutt, S.Venugopal, G. Sasikala,
Shaju K Albert, A. K. Bhaduri, T. Jayakumar
Metallurgy & Materials Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research,
Kalpakkam-603102, India
______________________________________________________________________________
Abstract

Fatigue crack growth (FCG) tests were carried out at ambient temperature in air for 316 L (N) stainless steel varying with
nitrogen (0.08, 0.14 and 0.22 N (wt %)) designated as 8N, 14N and 22N. The crack growth was monitored with direct current
potential drop technique (DCPD) and crack closure estimated by compliance technique. The threshold stress intensity factor
range (∆Kth) for 8N, 14N and 22N steels were found to be 5.1, 10.5 and 5.78 MPam1/2 respectively. The effective threshold stress
intensity factor range (∆Keff,th), (i.e., after correcting for crack closure) were found to be 4.5, 7.7, and 4.4 MPam1/2 respectively.
Both the extrinsic and intrinsic thresholds at the 14N steel were found to be higher than that at other nitrogen contents viz, 8N
and 22N. A model has been proposed for quantifying slip irreversibility using the fatigue fracture surface roughness parameters.
The trend in variation of FCG thresholds with different nitrogen levels follows that of slip reversibility estimated using this
model. The results imply that the lower slip irreversibility indicated higher fatigue thresholds at 14N.

© 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Indira Gandhi Centre
for Atomic Research.

Key words: 316L (N) steel, nitrogen levels, fatigue crack growth, roughness, slip irreversibility.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Introduction

Austenitic stainless steel grade SS 316L(N) is used worldwide as high temperature structural material for nuclear
industry due to the combination of good high temperature mechanical properties, compatibility with coolant liquid
sodium, good weldability, and resistance to intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) by reducing the carbon
content. SS 316L (N) has been chosen for the high temperature structural components of the 500 MWe prototype
fast breeder reactor (PFBR) which is in an advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam. With the aim of increasing
the design life of the future reactors to 60 - 100 years, possibility of improving the creep life by increasing the
nitrogen content has been explored. Many of these components are subjected to cyclic thermo-mechanical loading
which induces different kinds of damage like creep, fatigue, creep-fatigue interaction etc. Several studies on the
effect of nitrogen content on the tensile [1], low cycle fatigue [2,3] and creep [4,5] behavior have been undertaken;
improved tensile, creep and stress corrosion behaviours have been observed in nitrogen bearing steels. For the
damage tolerant design of these components, inter alia the fatigue crack growth properties are necessary. Therefore,

*Corresponding Author:
E-mail address: nanibm@igcar.gov.in
 M.Nani Babu et al. /Procedia Engineering 00 (2012) 000–000

a campaign was initiated to study the effect of nitrogen on room temperature fatigue crack growth behavior of SS
316L (N) with varying nitrogen contents. It is well established that the stage II fatigue crack growth behavior of any
material can explained by the well known Paris equation [6]

n
da / dN = C (∆K ) (1)

where the da/dN is crack growth rate, ∆K is the stress intensity factor range ( ∆K = K max − K min ), Kmax and Kmin
are maximum and minimum stress intensity factors respectively, coefficient, C , and the exponent, m, are material
constants. The Paris regime is generally considered to be less sensitive to microstructure, environment and R ratio
( K min K max ). As ∆K is reduced, the crack growth rate decreases; as a threshold value ∆K th is approached,
da dN becomes insignificant, i.e., its value tends to zero. Microstructure, environment, temperature, R -ratio,
crack closure, overloads, cold work etc are found to influence ∆K th ; in addition, the ∆K th is also sensitive to the
method of measurement, and specimen geometry. The crack closure phenomenon has a more dominant influence on
the fatigue crack growth behaviour in the near threshold regime than in the Paris regime; there are several
publications, reports and books ever since the closure phenomenon was discovered [7-10]. The crack closure
provides a mechanism whereby the effective cyclic stress intensity factor range near crack tip (∆Keff = Kmax − Kcl
where Kcl is closure stress intensity factor) differs from the nominally applied value (∆K). Therefore, information on
the magnitude of the crack closure is essential to understand and interpret the crack growth behaviour. Several
mechanisms of crack closure have been discussed in the literature depending on the material and test conditions.
These are mainly in the following four categories; plasticity induced, roughness induced, oxide induced and
transformation induced [8]. Plasticity induced closure is dominant in ductile materials while oxide induced closure is
a high temperature mechanism. Roughness induced closure is important when the crack surface is rough due to
frequent change in the crack path, for example, when the crack follows interfaces like phase/grain boundaries[11].
Transformation-induced closure can be important when there is a transformation at the crack tip, e.g., strain induced
martensite formation as in the case of metastable austenitic stainless steels like SS 304.

In this paper, the results from the investigations carried out on the influence of nitrogen on FCG behaviour of SS
316 L(N) at room temperature in both threshold and Paris regimes are presented. The results are analysed
incorporating crack closure effects. In addition, a slip irreversibility model based on the surface roughness has been
developed and applied to the fatigue crack growth near threshold regime in order to understand the origin of
variations in the thresholds as a function of nitrogen content.

2. Experimental

Blanks of approximately (70x75x30mm) dimensions were prepared from the SS 316L (N) plates with 0.08, 0.14
and 0.22 wt% nitrogen designated as 8N,14N and 22N respectively. Compact tension (CT) specimens of 20 mm
thickness were made from the blanks as shown in Fig. 1. The chemical compositions of the three steels are presented
in Table 1. Prior to the FCG tests, the CT specimens were pre-cracked. The FCG tests were conducted at ambient
temperature (300 K), in air according to ASTM E647 [12] for a constant R value of 0.1 and cyclic frequency of
15Hz in a fully automated servo hydraulic machine. Crack length measurements were carried out using a suitably
calibrated direct current potential drop (DCPD) system. Specifically, the tests employed were ∆K decreasing type,
with ∆K values being progressively reduced as the crack grows during the test as prescribed by the ASTM [12]
as ∆K = ∆K 0 exp(c.( a − a i )) . ∆K corresponding to a da dN of 10−10 m/cycle is taken as a practical value of
∆K th . The crack closure determined using compliance offset method. The roughness of the fracture surface is
measured using the laser based surface profilometer (TALYSURF CLI 1000 model). The roughness parameters
were obtained after the post processing of the raw roughness data using the inbuilt Taylor Hobson precision
software.
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Fig. 1.CT Sample dimensions all are in mm.

Table 1. Chemical composition (wt%) of SS316LN containing different nitrogen levels

Designation C N Mn Cr Mo Ni Si S P Fe
8N 0.027 0.08 1.7 17.53 2.49 12.2 0.22 0.0055 0.013 Bal.
14N 0.025 0.14 1.74 17.57 2.53 12.15 0.2 0.0041 0.017 Bal.
22N 0.028 0.22 1.7 17.57 2.54 12.36 0.2 0.0055 0.018 Bal.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. FCG Results

The FCG results without crack closure correction for the three nitrogen levels are presented in Fig 2a. It may be
observed that while the 14N steel exhibits lower crack growth rate in Paris regime and higher ∆Kth, the 22N steel
shows higher crack growth rate in Paris regime and lower ∆Kth. The 8N steel exhibits crack growth rate similar to 14
N steel in Paris regime but ∆Kth similar to 22N steel. The threshold stress intensity factor range (∆Kth) for 8N, 14N
and 22N steels are found to be 5.1, 10.5 and 5.78 MPa.m1/2 respectively. The FCG results with crack closure
correction (i.e., da/dN vs. the effective stress intensity factor, ∆Keff for the three nitrogen levels are presented in Fig
2b. With the crack closure correction, it is obvious that the FCG resistance of 14N steel is better than the other two
in both Paris and threshold regimes. The effective threshold stress intensity range factor (∆Keff,th), i.e., after
correcting for crack closure were found to be 4.5, 7.7 and 4.4 MPa.1/2 respectively for 8N, 14N and 22N steels. The
variations in the FCG thresholds are governed by the local deformation at the crack tip. In general the changes in
deformation mechanisms in the stainless steels are well explained by the variations in stacking fault energy (SFE). It
has been reported that variation in the stacking fault energy with increase in nitrogen content from 0.01-0.4 wt % N
is non monotonic in this class of steels [13-16] with a minimum around 0.14 wt % N [13]. It is known that lower
SFE promotes planar slip [17]. During FCG, planar slip leads to the generation of hills and valleys on the fracture
 M.Nani Babu et al. /Procedia Engineering 00 (2012) 000–000

surface leading to roughness which is decided by the extent of irreversibility of slip. Therefore, it is possible to
quantify the slip irreversibility using the parameters extracted from the surface roughness data. A model has been
developed in order to explain the variation in the FCG thresholds in the following section.

Materials : 316L(N) (a)

Materials : 316L(N) (b)
100 Load Raio : 0.1
100 Load Raio : 0.1
Frequency : 15 Hz
Frequency : 15 Hz
da/dN, nm/cycle

da/dN, nm/cycle
10
10

0.08N wt%
0.14N wt% 0.08N wt%
1 0.22N wt% 0.14N wt%
1
0.22N wt%
4 5 6 7 8 9 20 30
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 30
1/2 1/2
∆K, MPa.m ∆Keff, MPa.m

Fig. 2. Fatigue crack growth behavior of different nitrogen content 316LN steel (a) without and (b) with crack closure.

3.2. Slip Irreversibility Model

A few models for slip reversibility for explaining crack initiation process have been reviewed by Suresh [8]. One
of the surface roughness based statistical models was proposed by May [18] for crack nucleation. In a recent study,
Shyam and Milligan [19] developed a dislocation based slip irreversibility model based on the slip band spacing
obtained on the deformed surface using atomic force microscope (AFM). These measurements were made on the
surface of smooth specimens tested in LCF conditions, and the slip irreversibility is estimated as a fraction of plastic
strain amplitude which may represent the overall trends in the entire gage length. Thus, this model may not give a
realistic representation of the slip irreversibility at the crack tip. In the present investigation, a new and simple slip
irreversibility model based on surface roughness parameters has been proposed and applied for explaining the
dependence of FCG thresholds on nitrogen content in 316 L (N) steel.
In the present model, fracture surface roughness data has been used for quantifying the fraction of slip
irreversibility. By determining the average surface roughness height (h) and wave length (λ), one can estimate the
cumulative slip offset (extrusion or protrusions) due to random dislocation movement as presented in Fig. 3. The
mean height of the cumulative slip offset (w) can be written as

w = (h ) 2 + (λ / 2) 2 (2)

eff 1  ∆ K eff 
The total fraction of slip irreversibility can written as f = w /( r p + w ) where r peff =  ,
2π  σ ys 
σ ys is the yield strength. In the present model, ∆Keff has been used since it represents the intrinsic crack growth
driving force. The results of slip irreversibility estimated are presented in Table 2, for different nitrogen levels. It can
be seen that the fraction of slip irreversibility was low for the 14 N steel when compared to the other nitrogen levels.
The results imply that reduced slip irreversibility is beneficial in increasing the FCG resistance.
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Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of average slip offset (w), roughness height (h), wave length (λ) of the roughness of
fatigue fracture surface, (⊥) dislocations in the slip.

Table. 2. Slip irreversibility effects on FCG thresholds at different nitrogen levels

Steel ∆Keff,th Plastic zone size Roughness (h) Wavelength Slip offset Fraction of slip
design- (rpeff) (λ) (w) irreversibility
nation MPa.m1/2 ∆m ∆m ∆m ∆m (f )

8N 4.5 39.55 62 270 149 0.7897

14 N 7.7 90.44 162 150 181 0.6670

22 N 4.4 20.78 37 180 90 0.8340

4. Conclusions

Higher intrinsic FCG threshold was observed for the steel with 0.14% N when compared to0.8% and 0.22% N.
The improved FCG thresholds at 0.14% N is attributed to the lower slip irreversibility. A new model that quantifies
slip irreversibility in terms of fracture surface roughness and crack tip stress intensity factor as well as the yield
strength of the material (through the plastic zone size) has been proposed. The fractions of slip irreversibility
estimated using this model were 0.79, 0.66 and 0.83 for 0.8, 0.14 and 0.22% N respectively. The present model thus
successfully explains the FCG resistance in threshold regime as a function of nitrogen content.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Mr. Syed Kaleem for experimental support and Mr Utpal Borah for
sparing time in roughness data analysis.

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