Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Low-cycle fatigue and creep-fatigue behavior of Type 304 stainless steel in a sodium environment

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:708558

Low-cycle fatigue and creep-fatigue data have been obtained on annealed, thermally aged, and sodium-exposed Type 304 stainless steel (including weldments) in flowing sodium at temperatures between 703 and 973 K. The results indicate that a low-oxygen sodium environment has no deleterious effects on the continuous-cycle fatigue behavior of Type 304 stainless steel, and the fatigue life in sodium is superior to that in air. The presence of residual cold work in the material reduces fatigue life. Data on sodium-exposed material show that a moderate amount of carburization or long exposure to low-carbon sodium has little or no effect on fatigue life. The fatigue data in sodium are analyzed using a modified power-law relation, and the fatigue strain-life curves are established as a function of product form, temperature, strain rate, and heat treatment. The creep-fatigue behavior of Type 304 stainless steel in sodium is similar to that in air; i.e., in contrast to compressive- or symmetric-hold periods, a tensile-hold period reduces fatigue life. The creep damage during a tensile-hold time depends on material grain size.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-31109-ENG-38
OSTI ID:
708558
Report Number(s):
ANL--82-19; ON: TI83025176
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English