Effects of mercury on fatigue behavior of Type 316 LN stainless steel: application in the spallation neutron source

Abstract The high-cycle fatigue behavior of Type 316 stainless steel (SS), the prime candidate target-container material for the spallation neutron source (SNS), was investigated in air and mercury at frequencies of 0.2 and 10 Hz with a R ratio of −1, and at 10 and 700 Hz with a R ratio of 0.1. Here R equals the ratio of the applied minimum to maximum loads during fatigue experiments. A decrease in the fatigue life in mercury was observed, relative to that in air, at 0.2 Hz. Correspondingly, intergranular fracture was found on the fracture surfaces of specimens tested in mercury at 0.2 Hz, which is a typical fracture mode caused by liquid metal embrittlement (LME). Heating by mechanical working was observed during fatigue tests at 10 Hz and a R of −1, and at 700 Hz and a R of 0.1, which resulted in great increases in specimen temperatures and shorter fatigue lives for large stress amplitudes (⩾210 MPa), relative to those in mercury. However, in the fatigue tests at 10 and 700 Hz, the fatigue lives in air with cooling and those in mercury seemed to be comparable, indicating little influence of the mercury. Thus, both specimen self-heating and LME need to be considered in understanding fatigue behavior of Type 316 SS in air and mercury.