Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue in AISI 347 Austenitic Stainless Steel: Phase Transformation Kinetics at Elevated Temperatures

Abstract

Thermo-mechanical fatigue remains one of the more difficult phenomena to analyze due to the interplay between temperature, mechanical properties, and microstructural features of the material. For austenitic stainless steel, thermo-mechanical fatigue plays a particularly critical role—temperature changes the affinity of 𝛾 austenite to transform into 𝛼′ martensite under overcritical deformation. This paper presents the results of an in situ study of 𝛾→𝛼′ deformation-induced transformation kinetics at elevated temperatures in AISI 347. Fatigue tests were conducted in the temperature range of 20 to 320 °C. A uniaxial magnetic balance was used to directly measure the change in ferromagnetic volume fraction of the fatigue specimens as the fatigue load was applied. From this data, an empirical mathematical model was found. This model describes the kinetics of 𝛾→𝛼′ transformation as an exponential function of temperature, where the rate of phase transformation decreases with temperature, asymptotically approaching zero but never actually reaching it.