Fatigue life prediction for high-heat-load components made of GlidCop by elastic-plastic analysis.

A procedure to predict the fatigue fracture life of high-heat-load components made of GlidCop has been successfully established. This method is based upon the Manson-Coffin equation with a cumulative linear damage law. This prediction was achieved by consolidating the results of experiments and analyses, and considered the effects of environment and creep. A low-cycle-fatigue test for GlidCop was conducted so that environment-dependent Delta(t)-N(f) diagrams for any temperature could be prepared. A special test piece was designed to concentrate the strain in a central area locally, resulting in the low-cycle-fatigue fracture. The experiments were carried out by repeatedly irradiating a test piece with an electron beam. The results of the experiment confirmed that the observed fatigue life was within a factor of two when compared with the predicted fatigue life, yet located on the safer side.