Slip Activity of Persistent Slip Bands in early Stages of Fatigue Life of Austenitic 316L Steel (original) (raw)

Flat specimen of 316L steel was cyclically pre-deformed with constant plastic strain amplitude to early stage of fatigue life relevant to the period of cyclic strain localization and fatigue crack initiation. To document slip activity and reversibility/irreversibility of persistent slip bands (PSBs) in situ experiments in the high-resolution SEMFEG under special imaging conditions were performed. The half-and full-cycle slip activity and distribution of plastic strain within PSBs in individual grains were investigated via slip steps generated in half-and full-cycle deformation after intermediate vibration polishing. After completion of in situ tests the surface topography in identical locations was quantitatively documented using atomic force microscopy (AFM).