In order to clarify the mechanism of fatigue crack growth in alloy 625, which is a candidate material for use in advanced ultra supercritical power plants, the crack tip damage zone formation after a crack growth test conducted in high temperature steam was investigated. It was observed that the oxide thickness at the crack tip tended to increase with decreasing cyclic loading frequency. The crack path was a mix of transgranular and intergranular fractures. According to the grain reference orientation deviation (GROD) maps, it was revealed that the density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) in the matrix along the crack path and ahead of crack tip increased with an increase in the fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) due to environmental effects. It was observed that (1) mobile dislocations at the crack surface were blocked due to the thick oxide layer, resulting in an increase in the density of GNDs, and (2) an increase in the density of GNDs might induce stress concentration at the crack tip, deformation twinning, and the acceleration of FCGRs.

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