Abstract
The influence of the cooling condition after solution treatment on the high temperature fatigue resistance of 23Cr-26Ni heat resistant steel was investigated. Two different cooling conditions were applied to the steel after solution treatment at $1200^{\circ}C$ for 3 hours. One specimen was water quenched immediately after the solution treatment. The other one was furnace cooled at a rate of $0.5^{\circ}C/min$ down to $750^{\circ}C$ after the solution treatment. Then, both specimens were aged at $750^{\circ}C$ for 5 hours. Under two different heat treatment conditions, the low cycle fatigue (LCF) test was performed at $600^{\circ}C$ and room temperature (RT). Only cyclic hardening continued from the beginning until fracture at all strain amplitudes during LCF at $600^{\circ}C$. This phenomenon was attributed to the increase in the dislocation density due to cyclic deformation, which resulted in the interaction between the newly created dislocations and precipitates. Cyclic hardening followed by saturation and cyclic softening was observed at RT. Cyclic softening was attributed to the dislocation annihilation rate exceeding the dislocation generation rate. Other probable factor for cyclic softening was some cavities formed around grain boundaries after 20 cycles. WQ and FC have a similar LCF behavior at RT and $600^{\circ}C$ as shown in the cyclic stress response curves.