Effect and Characterization of O Accumulation Degree on Fatigue Properties and Grain Boundary Damage in GH4738 Ni-Based Superalloy

doi:10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00058

Acta Metall Sin

2026, Vol. 62

Issue (2): 328-338 DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00058

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Effect and Characterization of O Accumulation Degree on Fatigue Properties and Grain Boundary Damage in GH4738 Ni-Based Superalloy

ZHAO Xiao, XU Chao, JIANG He, YAO Zhihao, DONG Jianxin(

)

School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China

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ZHAO Xiao, XU Chao, JIANG He, YAO Zhihao, DONG Jianxin. Effect and Characterization of O Accumulation Degree on Fatigue Properties and Grain Boundary Damage in GH4738 Ni-Based Superalloy. Acta Metall Sin, 2026, 62(2): 328-338.

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Abstract

Fatigue is an important failure mode arising during the service conditions of superalloys. The fatigue crack propagation behavior of superalloys is influenced by many factors, such as temperature, stress, and ambient O. Among these, ambient O plays an important role. Numerous studies showed that fatigue crack propagation in a vacuum proceeds mainly as a transgranular fracture, while in air, it occurs mainly as an intergranular fracture. This is because the grain boundary is oxidized, making it weak. There is a lack of studies on the influence of different degrees of O accumulation on oxygen-induced grain boundary damage and ways to characterize this influence. The degree of O accumulation at the grain boundary is usually difficult to evaluate quantitatively. Therefore, to investigate the influence of O accumulation on the damage to grain boundary and to devise a method to characterize this influence, this study designed a series of aging experiments with different parameters to introduce different O accumulation variables. The fatigue crack growth test of aged nickel-based superalloy GH4738 was performed at room temperature ((23 ± 3) ^oC). For higher aging temperatures and longer aging time, the fatigue crack growth rate was higher, and the fatigue life was shorter. The fatigue fracture morphologies were observed. The grain boundary damage caused by the O accumulation was evaluated by considering the stress intensity factor range (ΔK), corresponding to the complete transformation of fatigue fracture from the transgranular mode to the intergranular mode. The grain boundary separation work calculated based on the molecular dynamics theory was used to verify the law of change in the turning point of the intergranular fracture mode observed experimentally. The experimental and theoretical results taken together showed that with an increase in O accumulation, the fatigue crack growth rate increases, service life decreases, and the turning point of the complete intergranular mode of fatigue fracture approaches the crack initiation end. O caused a reduction in the grain boundary separation work. As the O atom concentration increased, the weakening of the grain boundary became more pronounced. Addition, the higher temperature resulted in faster reduction rate of the grain boundary separation work.

Key words: Ni-based superalloy fatigue crack propagation degree of O accumulation grain boundary damage grain boundary separation work

Received: 29 February 2024

ZTFLH:

TG146

Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(92160201)

Corresponding Authors: DONG Jianxin, professor, Tel: (010)62332884, E-mail: jxdong@ustb.edu.cn

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	ZHAO Xiao
	XU Chao
	JIANG He
	YAO Zhihao
	DONG Jianxin

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https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00058 OR https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2026/V62/I2/328

Fig.1 Schematic of compact tensile (CT) specimen dimension for fatigue crack growth (FCG) test (unit: mm) and sampling position for microstructure observation (Red arrow indicate the direction of crack growth and fracture)

Fig.2 Room temperature FCG curves of GH4738 alloy aged at 650 ^oC for different time (a—crack length, N—number of cycle, da / dN—fatigue crack growth rate, ΔK—stress intensity factor range)
(a) FCG cycle curves
(b) FCG rate curves

Fig.3 Room temperature FCG curves of GH4738 alloy aged at 700 ^oC for different time
(a) FCG cycle curves
(b) FCG rate curves

Fig.4 Room temperature FCG curves of GH4738 alloy aged at 730 ^oC for different time
(a) FCG cycle curves
(b) FCG rate curves

Fig.5 SEM images of γ' phase morphologies in GH4738 alloy
(a) non-aging
(b) aged at 700 ^oC for 1000 h

Fig.6 SEM images of room temperature fatigue fracture morphologies of GH4738 alloy without age treatment (a) and aged at 650 ^oC for 500 h (b) and 1500 h (c) (a_g—crack growth length. Dashed lines represent the transition points where the fracture completely changes from transgranular fracture to intergranular fracture, the same below)

Fig.7 SEM images of room temperature fatigue fracture morphologies of GH4738 alloy without age treatment (a) and aged at 700 ^oC for 500 h (b) and 1500 h (c)

Fig.8 SEM images of room temperature fatigue fracture morphologies of GH4738 alloy without age treatment (a) and aged at 730 ^oC for 500 h (b), 1000 h (c), and 1500 h (d)

Fig.9 Lattice models for Ni Σ5[001](210) grain boundary (GB) (a) and Ni free surface (FS) which represent that the Ni Σ5[001](210) grain boundary is completely broken (b), and the interstitial O atom sites (c) (Red ball represents substitution position of O atom, blue balls represent Ni atoms)

Fig.10 Grain boundary separation work of Ni Σ5[001](210) grain boundary as a function of temperature (No O represents Ni model, 1O-8O represent adding 1-8 O atoms into the octahedral gaps near the grain boundaries of the Ni model, respectively)

Fig.11 Grain boundary separation work of Ni Σ5[001](210) grain boundary as a function of O concentration
(a) original relationship
(b) relationship between temperature and slope in Fig.11a

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