Use of instrumented micro-indentation to study the mesoscopic elasto-plastic behavior of GH4145/SQ superalloy during high-temperature cyclic straining

In this paper the instrumented micro-indentation testing (IIT) was used to study the mesoscopic elasto-plastic behavior of nickel-base superalloy GH4145/SQ subjected to cyclic straining at an elevated-temperature. For this purpose, a series of experiments including high-temperature low-cycle fatigue tests, instrumented micro-indentation measurements and OM (TEM) examinations were carried out. The characteristic parameters of indentation (C, hmax, S, hr, We and WP) during high-temperature fatigue failure process were determined from the experimental indentation load–depth (P–h) curves. The fatigue mesoscopic elasto-plastic properties such as E, σy and n were estimated using Dao et al.’s analysis algorithm [19], combined with the indentation characteristic parameters, and their distribution patterns were verified in a statistical sense. Microstructural examinations using both OM and TEM were performed to provide the micromechanisms for the fatigue mesoscopic elasto-plastic behavior of the superalloy during high-temperature low-cycle fatigue.