The fatigue lives of modem powder metallurgy (PM) disk alloys are influenced by variabilities in alloy microstructure and mechanical properties. These properties can vary due to the different steps of materials/component processing and machining. One of these variables, the presence of non-metallic inclusions, has been shown to significantly degrade low cycle fatigue (LCF) life (ref 5-8). Non-metallic inclusions are inherent defects in powder alloys that are a by-product of powder processing techniques. Contamination of the powder can occur in the melt, during powder atomization, or during any of the various handling processes through consolidation. In modem nickel disk powder processing facilities, the levels of inclusion contamination have been reduced to less than 1 part per million by weight. Despite the efforts of manufacturers to ensure the cleanliness of their powder production processes, the presence of inclusions remains a source of great concern for the designer. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects on fatigue life of these inclusions. Since natural inclusions occur so infrequently, elevated levels of inclusions were carefully introduced in a nickel-base disk superalloy, Udimet(R) alloy 720, produced using PM processing. Multiple strain-controlled fatigue tests were then performed on this material at 650degreesC. Analyses were performed to compare theLCF lives and failure initiation sites as functions of inclusion content and fatigue conditions. A large majority of the failures in specimens with introduced inclusions occurred at cracks initiating from inclusions at the specimen surface. The inclusions could reduce fatigue life by up to 100X. These effects were found to be dependent on strain range and strain ratio. Tests at lower strain ranges and higher strain ratios produced larger effects of inclusions on life.
