Multiaxial creep–fatigue failure mechanism and life prediction of a turbine blade based on a unified numerical solution approach

Abstract Exposure of turbine blades to cyclic torsional loading at high temperature, stemming from pre‐torque installation and the aerodynamic forces during operation, has the potential to induce substantial creep–fatigue damage, thereby contributing to the likelihood of premature failure. Investigating the deformation mechanisms and proposing a reliable life prediction method aiming at torsional loading is critical to ensure the structural integrity of turbine blades. This study conducted strain‐controlled fatigue and creep–fatigue tests on Inconel 718 superalloy, employing a multiaxial servo‐hydraulic testing machine. Electron backscattering diffraction elucidated deformation and damage mechanisms, forming a basis for subsequent constitutive modeling and life prediction. The lack of creep–fatigue mechanical behavior and microscopic failure mechanism when stress triaxiality equal to 0 is filled, which provides the theoretical basis and data support for the life design and damage assessment of this material under extreme service conditions. The unified viscoplasticity constitutive model effectively characterized macroscopic deformation under torsional loading. Prediction of creep–fatigue life under torsional loading, utilizing the multiaxial ductility factor‐modified strain energy density exhaustion model, demonstrated excellent alignment with experimental findings. Finally, parametric analyses of stress distribution and damage assessment under different conditions were carried out for the example of a turbine blade with relatively rarely considered aerodynamic loading as a variable. It is expected to be popularized and applied in life design and damage assessment of high‐temperature structures under multiaxial loading in engineering.