Hold-Time Effect on Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue Life and its Implications in Durability Analysis of Components and Systems

Thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) resistance of engineering materials is extremely important for the durability and reliability of components and systems subjected to combined thermal and mechanical loadings. However, TMF testing, modeling, simulation, validation, and the subsequent implementation of the findings into product design are challenging tasks because of the difficulties not only in testing but also in results interpretation and in the identification of the deformation and failure mechanisms. Under combined high-temperature and severe mechanical loading conditions, creep and oxidation mechanisms are activated and time-dependent failure mechanisms are superimposed to cycle-dependent fatigue, making the life assessment very complex. In this paper, the testing procedures and results for high-temperature fatigue testing using flat specimens and thermal-fatigue testing using V-shape specimens are reported; emphasis is given to hold-time effects and the possible underlying mechanisms. The uncertainty nature and the probabilistic characteristics of the V-shape specimen test data are also presented. Finally, the impact of hold-time effect on current product design and validation procedure is discussed in terms of virtual life assessment.