Investigation of the fatigue crack behavior of 304 stainless steels using synchrotron X-ray tomography and diffraction: Influence of the martensite fraction and role of inclusions

The effect of fatigue on the microstructure of four-point bend specimens of three variations of 304 stainless steels (Commercial 304, 304H, and 304 L) was investigated using synchrotron x-ray tomography and diffraction. X-ray tomography revealed the formation of the fatigue-induced microvoids and crack while the diffraction data was used to quantify the amount of deformation-induced martensite found after fatigue in all samples. Transmission electron microscopy evidenced the role of the precipitates/inclusions on the microvoid formation. It was found to depend on their chemical nature. The shape of the precipitates/inclusions was also found to have an effect on the microvoid shape.