Abstract
The fatigue crack growth behavior of the cold-rolled STS 304 steel developed for membrane material of LNG storage tank was examined experimentally at 293K, 153K and 111K. The fatigue crack growth rate(do/dN) tends to increase as the stress ratio (R) increases over the testing temperature when compared at the same stress intensity factor range($\Delta$K). The effect of R on do/dN is more explicit at low temperatures than at room temperature. The resistance of fatigue crack growth at low temperatures is higher compared with that at room temperature which is attributed to the extent of strain-induced martensitic transformation at the crack tip. The temperature dependence of fatigue crack growth resistance is gradually vanished with an increase in $\Delta$K which correlates with a decreasing fracture toughness with decreasing temperature. Fractographic examinations reveal that the differences of the fatigue crack growth characteristics between room and low temperature are mainly explained by the crack closure and the strengthening due to the martensitic transformation.
