Abstract
The fracture surface topography analysis (FRASTA) technique was applied to investigate the fatigue cracking of SUS304 stainless steel specimen at elevated temperatures. The specimen with single edge notch was subjected to 2603 cycles of fatigue at a constant strain range at 600°C. After the test, the topographic features of the conjugate fracture surfaces were compared using the FRASTA technique and fracture mechanics analysis was conducted. The analysis showed that a macroscopic fatigue crack was initiated at around 1000 cycles and then propagated at nearly a constant rate. These features and the expected crack growth rate coincided well with the experimental observation. This indicates that the FRASTA technique is applicable to the estimation of fatigue cracking at elevated temperatures.
