Low cycle fatigue behavior of 316LN stainless steel hollow specimen in air and liquid lead–bismuth eutectic

A hollow specimen, which can be filled with lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE), was designed to study the low cycle fatigue behavior of 316LN stainless steel (SS) in air and LBE at 400 °C. The fatigue life of 316LN SS in liquid LBE only reduced at high strain amplitude (≥0.8%). The fatigue cracks initiated at outer surface in liquid LBE at low strain amplitude and the opposite is true at high strain amplitude. The oxygen concentration has no impact on the fatigue life of 316LN SS in liquid LBE. The corrosion fatigue damage mechanism for 316LN SS in liquid LBE is discussed.