International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170

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International Journal of Fatigue

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijfatigue

Fatigue crack non-propagation assisted by nitrogen-enhanced

dislocation planarity in austenitic stainless steels
Kishan Habib, Motomichi Koyama ⇑, Toshihiro Tsuchiyama, Hiroshi Noguchi
Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Rotating bending fatigue tests were conducted to assess the fatigue crack propagation behavior of the Fe-
Received 23 May 2017 25Cr-1N and Fe-18Cr-14Ni austenitic steels in terms of the microstructure, crack propagation paths, and
Received in revised form 15 July 2017 non-propagating fatigue crack characteristics. The Fe-25Cr-1N steel exhibited a non-propagating fatigue
Accepted 17 July 2017
crack at the fatigue limit (310 MPa), but this did not occur in the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel at the fatigue limit
Available online 19 July 2017
(110 MPa). The non-propagating fatigue crack observed in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel was produced by
roughness-induced crack closure. This phenomenon was caused by the enhanced planar dislocation
Keywords:
and high dislocation pile-up stress resulting from the suppression of cross-slip, which inhibited the dis-
High nitrogen austenitic steel
Fatigue crack growth
location emission from the crack tip. The Fe-25Cr-1N steel exhibited a lower fatigue crack growth rate
Dislocation planarity than the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel because of the enhanced dislocation planarity produced by the Cr-N interac-
High cycle fatigue tion. The Cr-N interaction affected the fatigue crack growth behavior as follows. The short crack region
exhibited a planar glide dislocation pattern, but multiple slip systems were activated as the crack length-
ened. As the dislocation pattern remained planar on each slip plane, the crack propagation occurred along
the {1 1 1}c slip planes, even in the long crack. Moreover, the dislocation pile-up at the grain boundaries
caused grain boundary subcracks, which can induce crack toughening through mechanisms such as stress
redistribution. These positive effects contributed to the lower fatigue crack growth rate in the Fe-25Cr-1N
steel than the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction planarity, resulting in an increase in the work hardening capacity

Austenitic stainless steels are widely used in industrial applica-
tions including cryogenic technology, nuclear equipment, biomed-
ical devices, and structural components owing to their excellent
mechanical properties and corrosion resistance [1–4]. In terms of
the alloy design of advanced austenitic steels, the addition of solute
nitrogen plays a key role in austenite stabilization, improving the
mechanical properties and enhancing the corrosion resistance of
austenitic stainless steels [5–9]. When the nitrogen content of an
alloy exceeds 0.4 wt%, it is referred to as a high nitrogen austenitic
stainless steel. Interstitial nitrogen introduces large elastic distor-
tions to the crystal lattice, resulting in solid solution hardening.
Furthermore, it has been argued that the multiple positive effects
of nitrogen result from an attractive atomic interaction between
Cr and N and not simply as an effect of nitrogen alone. Specifically,
dislocation slip causes decomposition of the Cr-N couples, which
induces local softening [10]. This effect enhances the dislocation
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: koyama@mech.kyushu-u.ac.jp (M. Koyama).
and improved strength and elongation characteristics [11].
In addition to the mechanical properties under monotonic load-
ing, the fatigue resistance is the most crucial mechanical property
for structural design. Fatigue-related phenomena are a major cause
of accidental failures in structural applications, making it impor-
tant to know the fatigue limit and understand its underlying mech-
anisms to ensure safe structural design incorporating high nitrogen
steels for long-life structures. The fatigue properties of nitrogen-
alloyed austenitic steel have previously been investigated, with
reports of a superior fatigue resistance [12,13]. From the fatigue
limit point of view, the crack initiation and non-propagating crack
phenomena are major factors in determining the fatigue strength
[14]. Factors controlling the crack resistance in fatigue crack non-
propagation include strain aging at a mechanically small crack
tip [15–17], crack closure mechanisms such as plasticity induced
crack closure [18], and branching at the crack tip [19]. In addition,
the crack propagation path and subcrack interactions also affect
the fatigue crack growth resistance [20,21]. However, to the best
of our knowledge, a comprehensive understanding of the contribu-
tion of these factors in high nitrogen steels has not yet been ade-
quately achieved.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2017.07.019
0142-1123/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170
The nature of fatigue crack resistance in metals is defined by
dislocation motion at the crack tip and the associated plastic zone
evolution. The characteristic dislocation motion of the high nitro-
gen steels, namely the planar dislocation glide, must therefore
affect the crack growth resistance and fatigue limit. At a minimum
we would expect that a strong dislocation pile-up stress arising
from the enhanced dislocation planarity would prevent dislocation
emission from the crack tip, thus enhancing the fatigue crack
growth resistance. Furthermore, a heterogeneous dislocation array
can alter the evolution behavior in the plastic zone.
A further possible effect of the nitrogen-related dislocation pla-
narity occurs in the crack propagation path. The dislocation planar
array, which is maintained even at a high stress, can change the
crack propagation path [22] and cause crack branching and deflec-
tion. For example, the dislocation planar array has been reported to
cause cracking along a slip plane [23]. Furthermore, the high pile-
up stress arising from the planarity may cause intergranular crack
initiation and propagation. Therefore, considering at a minimum
the required crack opening stress and propagation path, the
nitrogen-enhanced dislocation planarity is strongly expected to
positively alter the fatigue crack growth resistance. This study
therefore assesses the fatigue crack propagation characteristics of
a high nitrogen Fe-Cr steel under the influence of enhanced dislo-
cation planarity.
2. Experimental procedure
Two steel compositions were used in this study: Fe-25Cr-1N
and Fe-18Cr-14Ni (mass%). The detailed chemical composition of
each steel is listed in Table 1. The Fe-25Cr-1N steel specimen
was prepared by solution nitriding with the base material of Fe-
25Cr (mass%) alloy a single Fe phase. The ingot was produced by
induction melting in a vacuum, homogenization at 1473 K, and
hot-rolling to produce a 10 mm thick plate. The fatigue test speci-
men was cut from the ingot and solution-nitriding was performed
for the fatigue specimen at 1473 K for 86.4 ks in a nitrogen gas
atmosphere at 0.1 MPa, followed by water quenching to ensure
that no austenite decomposition or nitride precipitation occurred
on cooling. As coarse-grained high nitrogen steels can exhibit brit-
tle intergranular cracking, grain refinement was carried out on the
solution-nitrided specimen by heat treatment in two stages [24].
The specimen was first subjected to isothermal heat treatment at
1173 K for 0.42 ks, followed by re-austenitization at 1473 K for
0.3 ks and water cooling. The specimen was then mechanically
and electrochemically polished to remove the damage layer before
fatigue testing. The tensile properties of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel have
been reported to be improved as a result of grain refinement [24].
The Fe-18Cr-14Ni ingot was prepared by vacuum induction
melting, forging and groove-rolling at 1273 K. The hot-rolled bar
was then solution treated at 1273 K for 1 h, followed by water
quenching to suppress the uncontrolled formation of second
phases and segregation. The fatigue test specimen was cut by elec-
tric discharge machining (EDM), and the damage layer was
removed by mechanical and electrochemical polishing.
The tensile tests for both steels were conducted on three spec-
imens with a gauge length of 30 mm, 4 mm width, and 1 mm
thickness, at room temperature and an initial strain rate of 10 3/
s. The stacking fault energies of the Fe-25Cr-1N and Fe-18Cr-
Table 1
Chemical compositions of the materials used in this study (mass%).
Steel Ni Mn Cr Si
Fe-25Cr-1N – <0.01 25.4 0.03
Fe-18Cr-14Ni 14.6 <0.001 18.8 <0.001
159
14Ni steels were reported as 22 [25] and 35 mJ/m2 [26],
respectively.
The fatigue test specimens shown in Fig. 1 were cut by EDM,
and the damage layer was subsequently removed by mechanical
and electrochemical polishing. A hole with both diameter and
depth equal to 100 lm was drilled into the center of the specimen
on the top surface, in order to serve as a controlled crack initiation
site. The fatigue test specimen was fixed on a round bar with the jig
configured as reported in our previous paper [26]. The fatigue tests
were performed on an Ono-type rotating bending fatigue test
machine at room temperature, with a stress ratio of 1 and fre-
quency 30 Hz. The fatigue cracks were observed using an optical
microscope using the replica technique, and the fracture surface
by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at an accelerating voltage
of 15 kV. The fractured specimens were mechanically polished
along an edge and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measure-
ments were performed at a distance of 100 lm (short crack) and
400 lm (long crack) from the bottom of the hole, with a beam step
size of 50 nm and an accelerating voltage of 20 kV. Electron chan-
neling contrast (ECC) imaging was carried out at an accelerating
voltage of 30 kV. These SEM-based analyses were conducted for
the sample cross-section to observe microstructures underneath
a fatigue crack that propagated in a plain strain condition. Crack
growth in a plane strain condition is the primary phenomenon in
fatigue, although crack growth behavior in a plane stress condition,
i.e. surface crack growth, has a correlation with that in the corre-
sponding plain strain condition.
3. Experimental results
3.1. Initial microstructure and tensile properties
Fig. 2(a) and (b) confirm that the Fe-18Cr-14Ni and Fe-25Cr-1N
steels had a fully austenitic microstructure before fatigue testing.
The average grain sizes observed in the Fe-18Cr-14Ni and Fe-
25Cr-1N steels were measured to be 42 and 22 lm respectively,
including annealing twin boundaries.
Fig. 3 shows the engineering stress-strain (S-S) curves of the Fe-
18Cr-14Ni and Fe-25Cr-1N steels. The Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel exhibited
a lower work hardening capacity and tensile strength than those of
the Fe-25Cr-1N steel. The 0.2% proof stress, tensile strength, and
elongation are listed in Table 2.
3.2. Fatigue life and relevant crack growth characteristics
Fig. 4(a) shows a plot of the number of cycles to failure against
stress amplitude for the Fe-25Cr-1N and Fe-18Cr-14Ni steels. The
stress amplitude, which does not result in failure at 2  107 cycles,
is referred as the fatigue strength in this study. The fatigue
strengths of the Fe-25Cr-1N and Fe-18Cr-14Ni steels were
310 MPa and 110 MPa, respectively. As differences in the fatigue
limit and fatigue life are generally explained by the hardness or
tensile strength, a plot of the stress amplitude (normalized by
the tensile strength) against the number of cycles to failure is
shown in Fig. 4(b). The fatigue strength of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel is
clearly higher than that of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel, even when nor-
malized by the tensile strength. In contrast, the fatigue life of the
C P S N O Al Fe
0.002 0.006 0.0005 1.0 0.0036 0.039 Bal
0.002 <0.001 0.0014 – – – Bal
160 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170

Fig. 1. Schematic showing a fatigue test specimen with dimensions (in mm).

Fig. 2. Optical micrographs showing the microstructures of the (a) Fe-18Cr-14Ni and (b) Fe-25Cr-1N steels.

Fig. 3. Engineering stress-strain curves for the Fe-18Cr-14Ni and Fe-25Cr-1N steels.

Table 2
The 0.2% proof stress, tensile strength, and elongation of the Fe-25Cr-1N and
Fe-18Cr-14Ni steels.

Steel 0.2% Proof Tensile strength Elongation

stress (MPa) (MPa) (%)
Fe-25Cr-1N 950 ± 14 1200 ± 9 41 ± 1
Fe-18Cr-14Ni 290 ± 7 520 ± 10 50 ± 1.5

Fe-25Cr-1N steel at higher normalized stress amplitudes is almost

identical to that of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel. Fig. 4. (a) Stress amplitude versus fatigue life for the Fe-25Cr-1N and Fe-18Cr-14Ni
Fig. 5 shows the crack growth curves of the two steels at the steels. (b) Number of cycles to failure plotted against stress amplitude normalized
same stress amplitude to tensile strength ratio of 0.36. The fatigue by the tensile strength.
 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170
Fig. 5. Fatigue crack growth rate curves for the two steels at the same stress ratio of
0.36: (a) crack length versus number of cycles, (b) crack growth versus number of
cycles, and (c) crack growth versus crack length.
crack growth for the Fe-25Cr-1N steel was slower compared to that
of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel. A sudden increase in the crack growth
rate of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel due to the crack coalescence observed,
indicated by an arrow in Fig. 5(b). The lower fatigue crack growth
rate of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel results in a higher fatigue life at low
stress amplitudes compared to the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel (Fig. 4).
3.3. Microscopic features of crack growth and associated dislocation
patterns
3.3.1. Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel
Fig. 6 shows the replica images of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel
obtained during fatigue testing. A crack initiated at the left side
of the drilled hole at 1.5  105 cycles as shown in Fig. 6(c), while
a crack initiated along the slip lines on the right side of the hole
at 5  104 cycles and propagated to meet it, as shown in Fig. 6
(d2–f2). The fatigue crack propagation was subsequently near-
perpendicular to the loading direction as shown in Fig. 6(b–g).
Intensive slip bands were formed around the crack (Fig. 6(d1–
g1)), resulting in crack branching. The tips of the crack branches
161
are aligned parallel to the main crack tip, as shown by red and
white arrows in Fig. 6(f1) and (g1).
Fig. 7 shows the SEM fracture surface images of the Fe-18Cr-
14Ni steel, where Fig. 7(a) gives an overview of the fracture sur-
face. Fig. 7(b) shows the crack initiation site from the hole, with
a flat surface around it. The early and intermediate propagation
regions exhibited surface features resembling a river pattern, as
shown in Fig. 7(c and d). The river pattern decreased as the crack
length increased (Fig. 7(e)), and ductile fatigue striations appeared
with increasing crack length as indicated by red arrows in Fig. 7(f).
The images in Fig. 8 labeled (a) show the results of the EBSD
measurements performed at a location 100 lm from the bottom
of the drill hole in the Fe-18Cr-14Ni fractured specimen. The EBSD
images were taken from the sample cross-section indicated by
arrows in Fig. 8(a1), and the corresponding cross-sectional SEM
image is shown in Fig. 8(a2). Fig. 8(a3) shows the inverse pole figure
map in the rolling direction occurring parallel to the loading direc-
tion (RD-IPF). The {1 1 1}c plane traces have been highlighted as
red lines in the RD-IPF map. Here, some parts of the crack surface
occur along the {1 1 1}c planes, as highlighted by yellow lines near
the fracture surface. Fig. 8(a4) shows a grain orientation deviation
angle (GROD) map, which indicates the degree of plastic deforma-
tion present. In the GROD map, the maximum deviation angle is
approximately 18° and the deviation angle distribution is hetero-
geneous. Fig. 8(a5) shows an image quality (IQ) map coupled with
an identification of the R3 twin boundaries. The IQ value deterio-
rates when two Kikuchi patterns associated with the parent and
twin crystals overlap. The reduction in IQ value depicts even thin
deformation twin plates [27–29]. The IQ map reveals only anneal-
ing twins, and no plate-like microstructure (such as deformation
twins) is observed.
The images in Fig. 8 labeled (b) show the results of the EBSD
measurements performed at a location 400 lm from the bottom
of the drill hole in the Fe-18Cr-14Ni fractured specimen. The EBSD
images were taken from the sample cross-section indicated by
arrows in Fig. 8(b1), and the corresponding cross-sectional SEM
image is shown in Fig. 8(b2). The {1 1 1}c plane traces are high-
lighted by red lines in the RD-IPF map (Fig. 8(b3)), indicating that
the crack surface in this region is not along the {1 1 1}c planes at
any point. The GROD map (Fig. 8(b4)) reveals that the maximum
deviation angle is approximately 29°, which is markedly higher
than that of the short crack condition. In addition, the highly
deformed region is homogenous along the fracture surface. As in
Fig. 8(a5), no plate-like microstructure was observed in the corre-
sponding IQ map (Fig. 8(b5)).
Fig. 9 shows the electron channeling contrast (ECC) images of
the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel. Fig. 9(a) reveals the dislocation structure
at a crack length of 300 lm from the bottom of the drill hole,
where the dislocations have become tangled with each other and
a cellular dislocation type has formed. Fig. 9(b) shows the deforma-
tion twin plates (as indicated by yellow arrows) at a crack length of
600 lm from the bottom of the drill hole, which depend on the
crystallographic orientation. The twin plates are very thin (less
than 300 nm) compared to other steels.
3.3.2. Fe-25Cr-1N steel
Fig. 10 shows the replica images of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel
obtained during fatigue testing at stress amplitude of 450 MPa. A
fatigue crack was initiated at 5  104 cycles from the left side of
the drill hole (Fig. 10(b)) and 6  104 cycles from the right side
of the drill hole (Fig. 10(c)). The cracks subsequently propagated
in a direction almost perpendicular to the loading direction on both
sides of the drill hole as shown in Fig. 10(d–g). Many subcracks ini-
tiated near the main crack indicated by red arrows in Fig. 10(d1,d2,
e2,f1,g1), and some coalesced with it indicated by yellow arrows in
Fig. 10(e1) and (f2). Crack branching occurred at one point, as
162 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170

Fig. 6. Optical micrographs of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel during fatigue testing at a stress amplitude of 150 MPa: (a) 0, (b) 5  104, (c) 1.5  105, (d) 2.9  105, (e) 3.5  105, (f)
3.8  105, and (g) 4.8  105 cycles. The red and white arrows indicate the main crack and subcracks, respectively. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170 163

Fig. 7. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the fatigue fracture surface for the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel tested at 150 MPa: (a) overview of the fracture surface, (b) crack
initiation site from the drill hole, (c) early and (d, e) intermediate propagation regions, and (f) late propagation regions. The locations of images (b-e) are indicated in part (a),
outlined by dashed lines. The small red arrows in part (f) indicate ductile fatigue striations. The inset of (f) indicates a magnified image of the region outlined by yellow line.
(For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

shown by white and blue arrows in Fig. 10(g2). The crack propaga-
tion was rigorous, exhibiting a zigzag pattern as observed in Fig. 10
(e1) and (g2). Compared with the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel, subcracks ini-
tiated at many points in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel and the subsequent
crack coalescence and branching were the main attributes of its
surface crack propagation behavior.
Fig. 11 shows the replica images of a non-propagating fatigue
crack in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel at a stress amplitude of 310 MPa.
The crack initiated at 4.5  106 cycles from the right side of the
drill hole as shown in Fig. 11(b). The crack did not propagate any
further until 2  107 cycles (Fig. 11(e)), and no other cracks initi-
ated (Fig. 11(a–e)).
Fig. 12 shows the SEM fractographs obtained from the Fe-25Cr-
1N steel, where Fig. 12(a) gives an overview of the fracture surface.
Fig. 12(b) indicates the crack initiation site, with striation-like fea-
tures observed in the vicinity of the hole (shown by red arrows)
along with flat surface features (indicated by white arrows).
Fig. 12(c) shows the early propagation region, which contain sub-
cracks and striations as indicated by red arrows in the magnified
image (Fig. 12(c1)). As the crack length increased, the intermediate
propagation region revealed that the fracture surface was inter-
granular (Fig. 12(d)), which increased as shown in the late propa-
gation region (Fig. 12(e)).
The images in Fig. 13 labeled (a) show the results of the EBSD
measurements performed at a location 100 lm from the bottom
of the drill hole in the Fe-25Cr-1N fractured specimen. The EBSD
images were taken from the sample cross-section indicated by
arrows in Fig. 13(a1), and the associated cross-sectional SEM image
is shown in Fig. 13(a2). In the RD-IPF map (Fig. 13(a3)), the {1 1 1}c
plane traces have been highlighted by red lines; the map reveals
that in some regions the crack surface did occur along the
{1 1 1}c planes, indicated by yellow lines near the fracture surface.
The GROD map (Fig. 13(a4)) gives a maximum deviation angle of
approximately 10°, and shows that the deviation angle distribution
is heterogeneous. Plate-like microstructure was not observed in
the corresponding IQ map, as shown in Fig. 13(a5).
The images in Fig. 13 labeled (b) show the results of the EBSD
measurements performed at a location 400 lm from the bottom
of the drill hole in the Fe-25Cr-1N fractured specimen. The EBSD
images were taken from the sample cross-section indicated by
arrows in Fig. 13(b1), and the corresponding cross-sectional SEM
image is shown in Fig. 13(b2). The RD-IPF map (Fig. 13(b3)) shows
the {1 1 1}c plane traces highlighted by red lines; they indicate that
the crack surface in this region also appeared partially along the
{1 1 1}c planes. The GROD map (Fig. 13(b4)) gives a maximum
deviation angle of approximately 9°, which is almost identical to
the value obtained from the short crack. No plate-like microstruc-
ture was in the corresponding IQ map, as shown in Fig. 13(b5).
Fig. 14 shows the ECC images of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel. Fig. 14(a)
shows the dislocation structure at the short crack (100 lm from
the bottom of the drill hole), which is controlled by planar glide
as shown in Fig. 14(a1). As the crack lengthens (500 lm from the
bottom of the drill hole, Fig. 14(b)), multiple slip systems are acti-
vated as shown in Fig. 14(b1). However, it should be noted that the
pattern of dislocations on each slip plane remains planar, even in
the long crack region.
Fig. 15 shows a further ECC image of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel at a
grain boundary located far from the fracture edge. The image
shows the pile-up of planar dislocations at the grain boundary.
The local contrast variation near the grain boundary (outlined by
dashed yellow lines) indicates a large stress concentration at the
boundary, due to the elastic field associated with the dislocation
pile-up.
4. Discussion
The S-S curve shown in Fig. 3 reveals that the tensile strength of
the Fe-25Cr-1N steel is superior to that of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel.
The increase in the tensile strength of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel is
mainly attributed to the solid solution and grain boundary harden-
ing that occur when the N is in the interstitial solid solution [5,6]
and also to the grain refinement of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel [24].
Accordingly, the fatigue strength of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel was
higher than that of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel (Fig. 4(a)). However,
the difference in the fatigue strength between the two steels
cannot be explained by the tensile strength variation alone
(Fig. 4(b)). The difference in the fatigue resistance of the
164 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170

Fig. 8. Cross-sectional electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel. Analysis at the short crack (100 lm from the bottom of the drill hole) is
indicated by the label (a), and at the long crack (400 lm from the bottom of the drill hole) by the label (b): (a1 and b1) fracture surfaces, (a2 and b2) scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) images, (a3 and b3) image quality maps in the rolling direction occurring parallel to the loading direction(RD IPF), (a4 and b4) grain reference orientation
deviation angle (GROD) maps, and (a5 and b5) image quality maps with an identification of the R3 twin boundaries. The yellow lines in (a3) indicate the regions where the
crack surface is along one of the {1 1 1}c planes. The red lines in (a5) and (b5) indicate the R3 twin boundaries. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fe-25Cr-1N and Fe-18Cr-14Ni steels can be interpreted using the the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel did not. In order to understand the charac-
characteristics of the fatigue crack growth behavior shown in teristics of the non-propagating fatigue crack behavior and
Fig. 5. Furthermore, the Fe-25Cr-1N steel exhibited non- enhanced crack growth resistance of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel, we dis-
propagating fatigue crack behavior at the fatigue limit, whereas cuss the fatigue crack behavior in detail in the following sections.
 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170
Fig. 9. Electron channeling contrast (ECC) images of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel: (a) dislocation cell structure at a crack length of 300 lm from the bottom of the hole, and (b)
deformation twin plates at a crack length of 600 lm from the bottom of the hole. The yellow lines indicate twin plates. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this
figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
4.1. Fatigue-induced dislocation patterns causing crack initiation
Crack initiation occurred in the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel along the
slip bands, as shown in Fig. 6(d2). The damage process began in
regions of localized cyclic strain, resulting in the formation of per-
sistent slip bands (PSBs). This process involves large extrusions and
intrusions with a high stress intensity factor, which cause cracks to
initiate from the PSBs and encourage subsequent propagation
[30,31]. Generally, the dislocation arrangement in the matrix and
PSBs is strongly affected by the character of the slip. The slip char-
acter typically depends on the stacking fault energy, and the dislo-
cation planarity is enhanced with decreasing stacking fault energy,
which tends to initiates fatigue cracks at the slip bands [32]. This
phenomenon would cause slip plane crack growth in the Fe-
18Cr-14Ni steel, which has a stacking fault energy of 35 mJ/m2.
However, we can also note that the crack along the slip plane
was deflected (even in the first grain from the drill hole) as shown
in Fig. 6(d1). This behavior can be caused by the formation of dis-
location substructures such as cells, as observed in Fig. 9(a).
In the Fe-25Cr-1N steel, fatigue cracks were frequently initiated
along the grain boundaries (Fig. 10(d1) and (d2)). According to the
dislocation image shown in Fig. 15, the fatigue-induced disloca-
tions exhibit planar features, which causes a dislocation-pile up
stress at the grain boundary. This grain boundary stress concentra-
tion is a cause of the intergranular crack initiation observed in
Fig. 12(d) and (e). Transgranular crack initiation along the slip
plane was also observed in some areas (Fig. 10(f1) and (g1)), and
is associated with the dislocation planarity arising from the effect
of the Cr-N couples. However, transgranular crack initiation
occurred less frequently than intergranular crack initiation.
4.2. Micro-mechanisms of crack growth: crack branching and
coalescence
The most important feature of crack propagation in the Fe-
18Cr-14Ni steel was the formation of intensive slip bands, crack
branching, and subcrack formation, as shown in Fig. 6. The
observed fatigue crack propagated continuously within the grain
interior, but crack branching occurred when it met the grain
boundary or deformation-induced bands and cells, as shown in
Fig. 6(f1). Crack branching also occurred along internal microstruc-
ture bands such as deformation twins, as shown in Fig. 6(g1). Pre-
vious research has described the effect of microstructural features
including PSBs [33], cells [34], and twins [35] on crack propagation
in austenitic steels. Hence, the occurrence of crack branching along
the grain boundaries and deformation twins is a common crack
propagation behavior in austenitic steels with a low stacking fault
energy [36]. When the crack lengthened, the microstructure/crys
tallography-dependent propagation behavior disappeared (Fig. 8
165
(b)). Accordingly, typical fatigue striation features were observed
in Fig. 7(f) as a result of the large stress concentration and the acti-
vation of multiple slip systems and cross-slip with increasing crack
length.
In contrast, the Fe-25Cr-1N steel exhibited subcrack formation,
as shown in Fig. 10. The number of subcracks was significantly
higher than was observed in the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel. Subcrack for-
mation can be caused by the enhancement of dislocation planarity
by the Cr-N interaction (as mentioned in the previous section).
Specifically, the Cr-N interaction suppresses cross-slip and
enhances planar slip, leading to subcrack development on the sur-
face [37]. Subcrack formation has both positive and negative
effects on the growth of fatigue cracks. Subcrack coalescence with
the main crack can accelerate fatigue crack growth, as shown in
Figs. 5(b) and 10(e1) and (f2). However, a stress distribution near
the crack tip [20] and roughness-induced crack closure [38,39]
can decelerate the crack growth. Specifically, stress release occurs
when a subcrack is aligned parallel to the main crack [20], decreas-
ing the driving force for crack growth. The roughness-induced
crack closure phenomenon results from zigzag crack propagation,
through crack coalescence, and deflection as shown in Fig. 10(e1,
f2,g1,g2).
4.3. Effects of crack length on the crystallographic features of crack
growth and subcrack formation
The microstructural fatigue crack propagation in the Fe-18Cr-
14Ni steel occurred along the {1 1 1}c planes at some locations in
the short crack region, as indicated by yellow lines in Fig. 8(a3).
However, the fatigue crack propagation features along the
{1 1 1}c planes disappeared in the long crack region (Fig. 8(b3)).
As no deformation twins were observed near the fracture surface
in the short crack region (Fig. 8(a5)), the crack propagation along
the {1 1 1}c planes cannot be attributed to deformation twinning.
Propagation along the {1 1 1}c planes typically occurs as a result
of the accumulation of dislocations on a single {1 1 1}c plane
[32,40], which contributes to the formation of damage sources
such as vacancies and dislocation dipoles during the fatigue pro-
cess. However, as the maximum GROD value increased from the
short crack to the long crack (Fig. 8(a4) and (b4)), the plastic zone
size and maximum plastic strain at the crack tip increased with
increasing crack length. This predominantly acts to activate
another {1 1 1}c plane, because of work hardening in the primary
slip plane. The crystallographic features of the fatigue crack prop-
agation path in the long crack region have therefore been blurred
out, as shown in Fig. 8(b3). Additionally, in the long crack region
the large plastic strain at the crack tip created a stretching zone,
resulting in the formation of ductile fatigue striations [41] as
observed in Fig. 7(f).
166 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170

Fig. 10. Optical micrographs of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel replicas taken during fatigue testing at 450 MPa: (a) 0, (b) 5  104, (c) 6  104, (d) 7  104, (e) 1  105, (f) 1.15  105, and
(g) 1.2  105cycles. The red arrows indicate subcracks and the yellow arrow indicates a point of crack coalescence. The blue and white arrows in image (g2) indicate the main
crack and a branched crack tip, respectively. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170 167

Fig. 11. Optical micrographs of a non-propagating crack in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel at 310 MPa: (a) 0, (b) 4.5  106, (c) 5.3  106, (d) 9.7  106, and (e) 2  107 cycles. The
corresponding magnified images are shown in (c1), (d1), and (e1).

Fig. 12. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the fatigue fracture surface for the Fe-25Cr-1N steel tested at 450 MPa: (a) overview of the fracture surface, (b) site of
the crack initiation emanating from the drill hole, (c) early, (d) intermediate, and (e) late propagation regions as indicated by dashed lines in (a). Striation features are
indicated by red arrows, and flat regions by white arrows. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this
article.)

In contrast, the Fe-25Cr-1N steel exhibited fatigue crack propa-
gation along the {1 1 1}c planes in both the short and long crack
regions, as shown in Fig. 13(a3) and (b3). The occurrence of crack
propagation along the {1 1 1}c planes in both the long and short
crack regions is the major difference between the fatigue crack
propagation behavior of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni and Fe-25Cr-1N steels.
This behavior can mainly be attributed to the enhanced dislocation
planarity associated with the Cr-N interaction, which leads to sub-
crack formation. Fig. 14 shows the dislocation planarity at both the
short and long cracks; at the short crack (Fig. 14(a)) the disloca-
tions have a simple planar array, but at the long crack (Fig. 14
(b)) multiple glide systems are activated. Note that the slip charac-
ter remains planar on each slip plane, resulting in the formation of
subcracks (even at the long crack) as shown in Fig. 10(g1) and (g2).
This is due to the dislocation pile-up at the grain boundary, and as
a result the fracture surface exhibits intergranular fracture at the
long crack (Fig. 13(b1)). This result is completely different to the
behavior observed in the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel.
As seen in Fig. 13(a4), the degree of strain evolution/localization
in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel was small compared to the Fe-18Cr-14Ni
steel. This can be explained by two factors. The first relates to
the subcrack formation and subsequent crack coalescence. When
the crack growth occurs via crack coalescence, the plastic strain
around the crack surface corresponds to a critical strain associated
with the crack initiation, which must be lower than the plastic
strain evolution arising from the crack opening for growth result-
ing in a significant crack length to occur. Second, the enhanced dis-
location planar array in the vicinity of the crack surface facilitates
mode II fatigue crack growth; this refers to the crack propagation
path occurring along the {1 1 1}c planes, even in the long crack
region. The dislocation planar glide-driven crack growth causes
highly localized dislocation accumulation along the slip plane.
168 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170

Fig. 13. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) images of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel. Analysis at the short crack (100 lm from the bottom of drill hole) is indicated by the label (a),
and at the long crack (400 lm from the bottom of drill hole) by the label (b): (a1 and b1) fracture surface, (a2 and b2) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image, (a3 and b3)
image quality maps in the rolling direction occurring parallel to the loading direction (IQ + RD IPF), (a4 and b4) grain reference orientation deviation angle (GROD) maps, and
(a5 and b5) IQ map with identification of the R3 twin boundaries. The yellow lines in (a3) indicate regions where the crack surface follows one of the {1 1 1}c planes. The red
lines in (e) indicate the R3 twin boundaries. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Therefore, when a crack propagates along the {1 1 1}c slip plane,
the plastic zone size around the crack surface must be small. Fur-
thermore, as shown in Fig. 13(b4), the plastic strain around the
crack surface did not increase with crack length. This can also be
explained by the reasons mentioned above. In terms of crack coa-
lescence, the strain level is predominantly controlled by the critical
strain required for the crack initiation. We can consider the mode II
crack growth stemming from the dislocation planarity, which was
maintained even at the long crack. From this viewpoint, the plastic
strain level would increase with crack length, for the most part.
However, compared with the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel (which exhibited
mode I crack growth in the long crack region), the dependence of
the crack length on the plastic zone size and detectable strain level
must be lower. This is due to the residual dislocation planar array
 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170
Fig. 14. Electron channeling contrast (ECC) images of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel, showing dislocation structure at: (a) the short crack (100 lm from the bottom of the drill hole)
and (b) the long crack (500 lm from the bottom of the drill hole). Images (a1) and (b1) show magnifications of the short and long cracks.
Fig. 15. An electron channeling contrast (ECC) image of a grain boundary in the Fe-
25Cr-1N fractured specimen. The outlined region shows the elastic contrast
associated with the dislocation pile-up stress concentration.
observed in Fig. 14(b1), which allowed mode II crack growth to
occur even in the long crack region.
4.4. Role of nitrogen-enhanced dislocation planarity in non-
propagating crack behavior
The experimental results revealed that the Fe-25Cr-1N steel
exhibited a non-propagating fatigue crack at the fatigue limit
(Fig. 11), whereas the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel did not. The austenite
in both the Fe-25Cr-1N and Fe-18Cr-14Ni steels was stable, and
possessed characteristics typical of low stacking fault energy mate-
rials, such as twin and extended dislocations. However, a signifi-
cant difference between the two steels was found in the
nitrogen-enhanced dislocation planarity. The dislocation planarity
tends to depend on the stacking fault energy and the short-range
ordering of solute atoms. However, the enhanced dislocation pla-
narity observed in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel is an exceptional result,
produced by the short-range ordering associated with the Cr-N
169
interaction. This is hypothesized to play a major role in the fatigue
crack non-propagation behavior, in a similar manner to that dis-
cussed in relation to crack growth resistance in Section 4.2. Specif-
ically, the enhanced planar dislocation glide causes crack
branching, deflection, and subcrack formation, facilitating the
roughening of the crack surface. This effect enhances the
roughness-induced crack closure, which can improve the crack
non-propagation limit. In addition, the high dislocation pile-up
stress stemming from the suppression of cross-slip prevents dislo-
cation emission from the crack tip, which may also increase the
limit of crack non-propagation. As a result, a non-propagating fati-
gue crack was only observed in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel in this study.
Consequently, the non-propagation of the crack enhanced the fati-
gue limit and fatigue life at low stress amplitudes, as shown in
Fig. 4.
5. Conclusion
A comparative study of two steels, Fe-25Cr-1N and Fe-18Cr-
14Ni, was conducted to examine the effect of nitrogen-enhanced
dislocation planarity on the fatigue resistance, specifically the fati-
gue crack growth behavior and non-propagating fatigue crack phe-
nomenon. From the results, the following conclusions can be
drawn:
(1) The fatigue limit and fatigue life of the Fe-25Cr-1N steel
were higher than those of the Fe-18Cr-14Ni steel at rela-
tively low stress amplitudes, due to nitrogen-enhanced dis-
location planarity.
(2) The enhanced planar dislocation glide in the Fe-25Cr-1N
steel caused crack branching, deflection, and subcrack for-
mation along the grain boundaries or {1 1 1}c slip planes,
which facilitated the roughness-induced crack closure. As a
result, a non-propagating fatigue crack appeared at the fati-
gue limit. A further reason for the fatigue crack non-
propagation associated with the dislocation planarity was
the high dislocation pile-up stress stemming from the sup-
pression of cross-slip, as it prevented dislocation emission
from the crack tip.
170 K. Habib et al. / International Journal of Fatigue 104 (2017) 158–170
(3) In the long crack region, multiple dislocation glide systems
were activated, but the slip character remained planar on
each slip plane, resulting in crack branching, deflection,
and subcrack formation (even at the long crack).
(4) The number of subcracks in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel was higher
than in the Fe-18Cr-14Ni alloy, which resulted from crack
initiation caused by dislocation accumulation at the grain
boundary in the Fe-25Cr-1N steel. Subcrack formation has
both negative and positive effects on fatigue crack growth.
Coalescence with a main crack accelerates the fatigue crack
growth, whereas roughness-induced crack closure and stress
redistribution by crack/crack interactions decelerates the
fatigue crack growth.
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant
number JP16H06365).
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