Cyclic plastic deformation and damage in 304LN stainless steel

304LN stainless steel samples are tested in room temperature under low cycle fatigue (LCF), ratcheting, pre-ratcheting followed by LCF and tensile, and pre-LCF followed by tensile conditions to understand the deformation behavior and damage evolution during cyclic plastic deformation. It is found that pre-ratcheting have massive detrimental effect on its subsequent LCF life. Systematic alterations in tensile properties are noticed with cyclic plastic damage evolution in this work. Orderly alteration of tensile yield stress with cyclic hardening/softening of the material is also observed.