Abstract: The effects of cyclic loading on crack growth, fracture feature and rupture life of superalloy GH2132 have been studied in the present paper. The crack growth tests were carried out at 550 on compact tension specimens under a wide range of load levels and various periods of hold time, and the fracture surfaces were examined on a scanning electron microscope. The results show that, for both static and cyclic creep, Stage-I of crack growth is related with initial test stress, during which the crack extension is about 0.5mm, and that the final effect of cyclic loading on rupture life depends on the counteraction of its two reversed effects on crack growth rate before and after the point n=0.2.

Key words: cyclic creep, crack growth, fracture feature, rupture life, initial test stress, tensile yield stress