Clarification of strain limits considering the ratcheting fatigue strength of 316FR steel

Isobe, Nobuhiro*; Sukekawa, Masayuki*; Nakayama, Yasunari*; Date, Shingo*; Otani, Tomomi*; Takahashi, Yukio*; Kasahara, Naoto; Shibamoto, Hiroshi*; Nagashima, Hideaki*; Inoue, Kazuhiko*

The effect of ratcheting on fatigue strength was investigated in order to rationalize the strain limit as a design criterion of commercialized fast reactor systems. Ratcheting fatigue tests were conducted at 550C. Duration of the ratchet straining was set for a certain number of strain cycles taking the loading condition of fast reactors into account, and the number of cycles for strain accumulation was defined as the ratchet-expired cycle. Fatigue lives decrease as the accumulated strain by ratcheting increases. Fatigue life reduction was negligible when the maximum mean stress was less than 25 MPa, corresponding to an accumulated strain of 2.2 percent. Accumulated strain is limited to 2 percent in the present design guidelines and this strain limit is considered effective to avoid reducing fatigue life by ratcheting. Micro-crack growth behaviors were also investigated in these tests in order to discuss the life reduction mechanisms in ratcheting conditions.