Low Cycle Fatigue Behavior and Life Evaluation of Type 316L Stainless Steel at 700°C

This study aims to investigate the low cycle fatigue behavior of Type 316L stainless steel at a high temperature of 700 degrees C. Type 316L stainless steel is considered as a candidate materials for a thermal energy storage (1ES) system. Fully reversed strain controlled low cycle fatigue tests were conducted with to total strain ranges of 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1.0% and 1.2% under a constant strain rate of 10(-3)/s at 700 degrees C. All the total strain ranges showed an initial cyclic hardening behavior, followed by a saturation area for a certain period of time, and then fractured after cyclic softening. The low cycle fatigue life decreased as the total strain range increased. The fatigue life was evaluated by the Coffin-Manson-Basquin method, and the predicted low cycle fatigue life was found to coincide well with the experimental data.