Effects of the Electron Beam Welding Process on the Microstructure, Tensile, Fatigue and Fracture Properties of Nickel Alloy Nimonic 80A

The purpose of this study was to evaluate rotary bending high-cycle fatigue properties and crack growth of Nimonic 80A-based metal and electron beam-welded joints. All the tests were performed at room temperature. Fracture surfaces under high-cycle fatigue and fatigue crack growth were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Microstructure, hardness and tensile properties were also evaluated in order to understand the effects on the fatigue results obtained. It was found that the tensile properties, hardness and high-cycle fatigue properties of the welded joint are lower than the base metal. The fracture surface of the high-cycle fatigue shows that fatigue crack initiated from the surface under the high stress amplitude and from the subsurface under the low stress amplitude. The effect of the welding process on the statistical fatigue data was studied with a special focus on probabilistic life prediction and probabilistic lifetime limits. The fatigue crack growth rate versus stress intensity factor range data were obtained from the fatigue crack growth tests. From the results, it was evident that the fatigue crack growth rates of the welded are higher than the base metal. The mechanisms and fracture modes of fatigue crack growth of welded specimens were found to be related to the stress intensity factor range ΔK. In addition, the effective fatigue crack propagation thresholds and mismatch of welded joints were described and discussed.