Evaluation method of equivalent initial flaw size and fatigue life prediction of nickel-based single crystal superalloy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to apply the concept of equivalent initial flaw size (EIFS) to the anisotropic nickel-based single crystal (SX) material, and to predict the fatigue life on this basis. The crack propagation law of SX material at different temperatures and the weak correlation of EIFS values verification under different loading conditions are also investigated. Design/methodology/approach A three-parameter time to crack initial (TTCI) method with multiple reference crack lengths under different loading conditions is established, which include the TTCI backstepping method and EIFS fitting method. Subsequently, the optimized EIFS distribution is obtained based on the random crack propagation rate and maximum likelihood estimation of median fatigue life. Then, an effective driving force based on anisotropic and mixed crack propagation mode is proposed to describe the crack propagation rate in the small crack stage. Finally, the fatigue life of three different temperature ESE(T) standard specimens is predicted based on the EIFS values under different survival rates. Findings The optimized EIFS distribution based on EIFS fitting - maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) method has the highest accuracy in predicting the total fatigue life, with the range of EIFS values being about [0.0028, 0.0875] (mm), and the mean value of EIFS being 0.0506 mm. The error between the predicted fatigue life based on the crack propagation rate and EIFS distribution for survival rates ranges from 5% to 95% and the experimental life is within two times dispersion band. Originality/value This paper systematically proposes a new anisotropic material EIFS prediction method, establishing a framework for predicting the fatigue life of SX material at different temperatures using fracture mechanics to avoid inaccurate anisotropic constitutive models and fatigue damage accumulation theory.