Effect of carbide precipitation on Coffin–Manson relationship of a polycrystalline nickel‐based superalloy

Abstract This study explores the dual‐slope Coffin–Manson (C–M) behavior of a polycrystalline nickel‐based superalloy, EA, used in turbine engine applications with an emphasis on discerning the micro‐mechanisms responsible for it. The motivation for distinguishing the micro‐mechanisms responsible for bi‐linear C–M behavior stemmed from the earlier evolved comprehensions that state that the fatigue life estimation based on the extrapolation of any single line gives inaccurate results. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations of fatigue fractured specimens at low strain amplitudes, Δε /2, revealed that dislocations are homogeneously distributed in the γ‐channels and occasionally form networks at γ/γ′ interface. Whereas deformation is heterogeneous at high Δε /2 owing to the complex dislocation reactions. Cr 23 C 6 carbides are precipitated during the high Δε /2 fatigue tests, which act as obstacles for dislocations. The deformation heterogeneity resulting from the dislocation–γ′ precipitate interactions and the dislocation–M 23 C 6 carbide interactions accounts for the dual‐slope C–M behavior.