Abstract: Under high temperature low cycle fatigue (LCF) loads, directional solidification (DS) turbine blades present quite different failure features as compared with equiaxed (EQ) turbine blades with identical geometry and similar stress distribution. All the EQ blade specimens fractured in the key section located at the serration part of the blade. However, this part of the DS blade specimens exhibited no microcrack before the fracture in the root of the blade body. Obviously, the damage characteristic of the DS blade is different from that of the conventional EQ blade, which fractures at the highest stress point. Further theoretical investigation indicates that grain structure of the DS blade has a significant impact on both the properties of the material and its subsequent load capacity. For the DS blade, the LCF damage is not only related to its stress field, but also affected by the microstructure of various parts.

Key words: turbine blade, directional solidification, low cycle fatigue, finite element method, grain