Fatigue crack initiation and propagation in austenitic stainless steels for light water reactors

The determination of fatigue life of components containing defects usually takes into account crack propagation only. In a real situation. a number of cycles are often required to reach fatigue crack initiation and predictive evaluation of fatigue crack initiation phases of real defects in austenitic stainless steel welded joints are presented. Fatigue crack growth rates in wrought and cast austenitic stainless steels and associated welds are also presented. Effects of various mechanical parameters (R ratio and variable amplitude loading) of a PWR environment and of metallurgical factors (delta ferrite content and ageing in cast austenitic stainless steels) are discussed.