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Titanium alloys are processed to develop a wide range of microstructure configurations and therefore material properties. While these properties are typically measured experimentally, a framework for property prediction could greatly enhance alloy design and manufacturing. Here a microstructure-sensitive framework is presented for the prediction of strength and ductility as well as estimates of the bounds in variability for these properties. The framework explicitly considers distributions of microstructure via new approaches for instantiation of structure in synthetic samples. The parametric evaluation strategy, including the finite element simulation package FEpX, is used to create and test virtual polycrystalline samples to evaluate the variability bounds of mechanical properties in Ti-6Al-4V. Critical parameters for the property evaluation framework are provided by measurements of single crystal properties and advanced characterization of microstructure and slip system strengths in 2D and 3D. Property distributions for yield strength and ductility are presented, along with the validation and verification steps undertaken. Comparisons between strain localization and slip activity in virtual samples and in experimental grain-scale strain measurements are also discussed.

The microstructural origins of highly localized elastic strain concentrations in polycrystalline microstructures under monotonic loading are studied using grain-scale, in situ digital image correlation and crystal plasticity finite element method. It is shown that the locations of exceptionally high elastic strain concentrations in the microstructure depend on particular crystallographic and morphological orientations of grains and less so on crystalline details of their local neighborhood. Based on these results, we discuss how topological and crystallographic features of annealing twin boundaries can increase the likelihood of slip band initiation throughout the microstructure of polycrystalline Ni-base superalloys.

Pathways for ductility Alloys containing multiple elements can be very strong but often suffer from poor ductility. F. Wang et al. found that different mechanisms accommodated plasticity in a molybdenum-niobium-titanium multiprincipal element alloy (see the Perspective by Cairney). Instead of so-called “screw” dislocations, deformation is accommodated by multiple pathways that include “edge” dislocations and activation of crystallographic slip planes. These results offer a design paradigm for developing new high-strength alloys. Science , this issue p. 95 ; see also p. 37

International audience; Fatigue crack nucleation in crystalline materials typically develops due to highly localized cyclic slip. During a fatigue cycle, reverse slip differs locally from slip in the forward direction particularly in precipitate-containing materials such as superalloys. In this paper we report the first direct measurements of irreversibility at the scale of individual slip bands by high-resolution digital image correlation (DIC) in a polycrystalline nickel-based superalloy. Quantitative measurements of the slip irreversibility are challenging for regions of material that have a size that captures the microstructure and its variability. High spatial resolution at the nanometer scale during experimental measurements is needed to observe slip localization during deformation. Moreover, large fields are also needed to obtain the material response over statistically representative populations of microstructural configurations. Recently, high resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) digital image correlation (DIC) has been extended for quantitative analysis of discontinuities induced by slip events using the Heaviside-DIC method. This novel method provides quantitative measurements of slip localization at the specimen surface. In this paper, the Heaviside-DIC method is used to measure slip irreversibility and plastic strain accumulation in a nickel-based superalloy. The method detects bands with high levels of irreversibility early in cycling that ultimately form fatigue cracks upon further cycling. The local microstructural configurations that induce large amounts of plasticity and slip irreversibility are correlated to crack nucleation locations.

A new class of $$\gamma ^{\prime }$$-containing Co-based superalloys that are promising for high temperature applications has been investigated under cyclic loading conditions. A series of single crystal variants of these Co-based superalloys have been cyclically loaded above their elastic limit at $$750\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$ in air to study their behavior in the low cycle regime. Interrupted testing was performed to observe the early stages of fatigue failure. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize post-mortem specimens. Fatigue failure occurred due to surface cracks that developed during the early stages of cycling in the aluminide-coated sample gauge sections. Growth of these surface cracks into the substrate was associated with extensive oxidation and intermetallic phase precipitation, which accelerated crack propagation as compared to Ni-based superalloys. These observations suggest that improvements in the oxidation resistance and high temperature strength of $$\gamma ^{\prime }$$-containing Co-based superalloys will enhance their fatigue behavior.

Micro-tensile specimens of nickel-based superalloy oligocrystals were tested in-situ in an scanning electron microscope in transmission mode (TSEM) enabling observation of dislocations. The dynamics of dislocation motion during tensile loading were captured and correlated with the measured intermittencies during plastic flow recorded by high load- and temporal-resolution sensors. This investigation in particular focused on the dislocation behavior near twin boundaries with different slip configurations. A multiplicity of deformation mechanisms at the dislocation scale were observed within individual slip bands, including precipitate shearing, dislocation decorrelation and antiphase boundary-coupled shearing. These processes affect strain localization near twin boundaries and provide new defect-level insights on plastic localization and fatigue crack initiation in these alloys.

The advancement of materials science at the mesoscale requires improvements in both sampling volumes/areas and spatial resolution in order to make statistically significant measurements of microstructures that influence higher-order material properties, such as fatigue and fracture. Therefore, SEM-based techniques have become desirable due to improvements in imaging resolution, large sample handling capability, and flexibility for in-situ instrumentation. By using fast sampling of SEM electron detector signals, intrinsic beam scanning defects have been identified that are related to the response time of the SEM electron beam deflectors and electron detectors. Mitigation of these beam scanning defects using detector sampling approaches and an adaptive model for settling time is shown to produce higher resolution SEM images, at faster image acquisition times, with a means to quantify the different response functions for various beam deflectors and detectors including those for electrons and ions.

Quantification of mesoscale microstructures of polycrystalline materials is important for a range of practical tasks of materials design and development. The current protocols of quantifying grain size and morphology often rely on microstructure metrics (e.g., mean grain diameter) that overlook important details of the mesostructure. In this work, we present a quantification framework based on directionally resolved chord length distribution and principal component analysis as a means of extracting additional information from 2-D microstructural maps. Towards this end, we first present in detail a method for calculating chord length distribution based on boundary segments available in modern digital datasets (e.g., from microscopy post-processing) and their low-rank representations by principal component analysis. The utility of the proposed framework for capturing grain size, morphology, and their anisotropy for efficient visualization, representation, and specification of polycrystalline microstructures is then demonstrated in case studies on datasets from synthetic generation, experiments (on Ni-base superalloys), and simulations (on steel during recrystallization).

This paper has three major objectives related to the development of computational micromechanics models of Ni-based superalloys, containing a large number of annealing twins. The first is the development of a robust methodology for generating 3D statistically equivalent virtual polycrystalline microstructures (3D-SEVPM) of Ni-based superalloys. Starting from electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) images of sections, the method develops distributions and correlation functions of various morphological and crystallographic parameters. To incorporate twins in the parent grain microstructure, the joint probability of the number of twins and parent grain size, and the conditional probability distributions of twin thickness and twin distance are determined. Subsequently, a method is devised for inserting twins following the distribution functions. The overall methodology is validated by successfully comparing various statistics of the virtual microstructures with 3D EBSD data. The second objective is to establish the microstructure-based statistically equivalent representative volume element or M-SERVE that corresponds to the minimum SERVE size at which the statistics of any morphological or crystallographic feature converge to that of the experimental data. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) test is conducted to assess the convergence of the M-SERVE size. The final objective is to estimate the property-based statistically equivalent RVE or P-SERVE, defined as the smallest SERVE, which should be analyzed to predict effective material properties. The crystal plasticity finite-element model is used to simulate SERVEs, from which the overall material response is computed. Convergence plots of material properties including the yield strength and hardening rate are used to assess the P-SERVE. A smaller P-SERVE compared to the M-SERVE indicates that the characteristic features of twins implemented in determining the M-SERVE are more stringent than those for determining material properties.

Cyclic fatigue experiments in the high and very high cycle fatigue regimes have been performed on a Rene 88DT polycrystalline nickel-based superalloy. The microstructural configurations that favor early strain localization and fatigue crack initiation at high temperature from 400 °C to 650 °C have been investigated. Competing failure modes are observed in the high to the very high cycle fatigue regime. Fatigue cracks initiate from non-metallic inclusions and from intrinsic internal microstructural features. Interestingly, as stresses are reduced into the very high cycle regime, there is a transition to initiation only at crystallographic facets. At higher stress in the high cycle fatigue regime, a significant fraction of specimens initiate cracks at non-metallic inclusions. This transition is analyzed with regard to microstructural features that favor strain localization and accumulate damage early during cycling.

First-principles DFT methods are combined with an experimental approach to characterize the creep behavior of quinary Co-based L1 $$_2$$ -containing superalloys at elevated temperature conditions. Temperature-dependent SISF energies have been modeled, combining 0 K formation energies with vibrational free energy calculations to assess deformation mechanisms at finite temperature. Two different Co-Al-W alloys, containing the maximum possible amount of DFT-identified d-block alloying additions, were identified and cast as single crystals via the Bridgman process. Creep tests have been performed at two primary testing conditions, one at 900 $$^\circ $$ C and the other at 982 $$^\circ $$ C. Transmission scanning electron microscopy (TSEM) was performed at 30 kV in a scanning electron microscope to rapidly characterize the defect substructures. We observe a coupled APB/SISF/APB defect structure in Co-based superalloys at the low-temperature condition, similar to the defect structure observed in CoNi, in spite of containing no Ni. At 982 $$^\circ $$ C, there is no evidence of faults and precipitates instead contain antiphase boundaries. The role of composition and temperature-dependent fault energies in the deformation process is addressed.

The microstructural configurations that favor early strain localization and fatigue crack initiation at intermediate and high temperature (400 °C–650 °C) have been investigated using novel experimental techniques, including high resolution digital image correlation and transmission scanning electron microscopy. Cyclic fatigue experiments in the high and low cycle fatigue regimes have been performed on a Rene 88DT polycrystalline nickel-base superalloy at temperatures up to 650 °C and compared to previous fatigue results obtained from tests in the very high cycle fatigue regime. Competing failure modes are observed along with an inversion in the temperature fatigue life dependence of fatigue strength from the low to high cycle fatigue regime. Oxidation-assisted processes are dominant at high applied stresses while cyclic plastic localization and accumulation govern fracture at low applied stresses. In addition, a second competing mode exists in the high and very high cycle fatigue regime from non-metallic inclusions as compared to internal intrinsic initiation sites. The grain-scale features that exhibit strain localization and crack initiation were investigated in detail. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), transmission scanning electron microscopy (TSEM) and electron channeling contrast imaging have been conducted on samples removed from targeted regions with microstructural configurations that favor crack initiation to characterize the associated dislocation sub-structure and its evolution with temperature. Plasticity is observed to be less localized during cyclic loading at high temperature compared to room temperature. The microstructural features that drive initiation across the temperature range investigated are: twin-parent grains pairs that are at the upper end of the size distribution, are oriented for near maximum elastic modulus mismatch, and have high stresses along planes parallel to the twin boundaries.

International audience; The slip localization behavior of the polycrystalline nickel base superalloy Inconel 718 during monotonic tensile loading at room temperature, is investigated for the first time in relation to the 3D microstructure. Multi-modal data merging tools are used to recombine high resolution digital image correlation (HR-DIC) data with 3D electron back-scatter diffraction tomography (3D EBSD), over a wide region of interest. This procedure enables reconstruction of the slip band planes in the 3D microstructure. Statistical analyses conducted over 500 individual slip bands reveal strong correlations between their location and specific microstructure configurations. In particular, over half of the slip bands emanate from triple junction lines (3D lines defined by the junction of three crystals). Moreover, the most intense and longest slip bands, which would become critical fatigue crack nucleation sites during cyclic loading, are located close and parallel to particular annealing twin boundaries and are simultaneously connected to triple junction lines. Crystal plasticity finite elements calculations are performed on the experimental microstructure to identify the slip activity that results in the formation of high intensity slip bands (localized plasticity) or zones of high lattice rotation (non-localized plasticity) in these particular microstructure regions.

In advanced engineering alloys where inclusions and pores are minimized during processing, the initiation of cracks due to cyclic loading shifts to intrinsic microstructural features. Criteria for the identification of crack initiation sites, defined using elastic-plastic loading parameters and twin boundary length, have been developed and applied to experimental datasets following cyclic loading. The criteria successfully quantify the incidence of experimentally observed cracks. Statistical microstructural volume elements are defined using a convergence approach for two nickel-base superalloys, IN100 and Rene 88DT. The material element that captures the fatigue crack-initiating features in Rene 88DT is smaller than IN100 due to a combination of smaller grain size and higher twin density.

A computational study of 3D virtual instantiations of microtextured Ti-6Al-4V with varying initial slip system strengths is presented. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) scans of a rolled and heat-treated mill annealed plate were used in order to determine the approximate geometric morphology of both the grain structure and the microtextured regions. Data from the EBSD experiments were used to calculate representative orientation distribution functions (ODFs) and grain size distributions for the α (HCP) crystallographic phase. Laguerre tessellations were employed to create idealized geometric representations of the microstructure and microtextured regions, while orientations were sampled from the experimentally derived ODFs. A highly parallelized crystal plasticity finite element framework was used to model the deformation response of single phase polycrystals under uniaxial tension, with attention paid to the intragrain slip system activity. Simulations were conducted with changes in the orientations within microtextured regions, as well as with various sets of initial slip system strengths to reflect differences in reported values in literature. Results were compared to a strength-to-stiffness parameter designed to predict succession of yield as a function of orientation. Presented are slip activity trends as a function of microstructure and initial slip system strengths, as well as results concerning the development of long-range localization of plasticity as a function of the microstructure. Predictions are compared to slip system activity measured by scanning electron microscope based digital image correlation.

International audience; The recent development of the high resolution and discontinuity-tolerant digital image correlation technique enables the extraction of discontinuities within a displacement field. The technique provides quantitative analysis of discontinuities arising from slip, shear bands, cracks, and grain boundary sliding in a variety of material systems, including polycrystalline metallic materials. The discontinuity-tolerant digital image correlation method can be implemented to retrieve not only quantitative discontinuity analysis but also the local strain and rotation fields that operate near these discontinuities. The present implementation includes high-resolution digital image correlation (HR-DIC) measurements collected in a scanning electron microscope for analysis of both the plastic and elastic fields that develop during deformation of polycrystalline metallic materials. The combination of the discontinuity-tolerant DIC technique with the computation of internal gradients enables extraction of non-localized strain and rotation fields during plastic deformation of a nickel-based superalloy. Therefore the lattice rotation/expansion and plastic localization that occur during deformation can be determined in a single experiment. This method is validated using synthetic images with preset deformation, and experimental measurements using the electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) technique.

International audience; The mechanical properties of titanium alloys result from their complex multi-scale microstructural features, including micron scale precipitates and millimeter scale microtextured regions (MTRs). While previous investigations have revealed that the presence of mm-scale MTRs can degrade mechanical properties, particularly fatigue, the accompanying strain localization processes that operate at the microscale within the α grains in MTRs are not well understood. The present work is a mechanistic investigation of MTRs using crystal plasticity simulations of mm3-scale experimentally captured and synthetically generated 3D microstructure datasets. The explicit modeling of both the α grains and MTRs in Ti–6Al–4V enables assessment of the effect of microtexture and local structure variations within the MTR on overall deformation behavior and the onset of plastic slip in MTRs. The presence of MTRs with a dominant [0001] orientation results in both stress and plastic strain hotspots during the early stages of straining. Crystal plasticity predictions are compared to previous digital image correlation studies on early strain localization. The influence of MTRs on the local stress and strain fields is discussed with regard to the monotonic tension, fatigue and dwell-fatigue behavior of titanium alloys.

Fatigue cracks initiating from surface and sub-surface non-metallic inclusions (NMIs) have recently been demonstrated to be a necessary but not sufficient explanation for atypically short low-cycle fatigue life in Inconel 718 alloy at intermediate temperature. Therefore, the early stages of short crack propagation from surface NMIs were investigated in a crystallographic and two-dimensional versus three-dimensional morphological manner after room temperature low cycle fatigue (LCF) testing. In the present investigation, NMIs were purposely pre-cracked using different techniques to suppress the natural crack initiation period and thus the incubation period prior to the early stages of crack propagation. Under such fatigue testing conditions, different mechanisms of crack transmission from pre-cracked NMIs were identified: (i) no propagation, (ii) NMI/adjacent metallic grain interfacial debonding, (iii) transgranular crack propagation within the adjacent metallic grain. Focused-ion-beam cross-section observations of numerous fatigue tested NMIs aimed to define a morphological criterion for non-propagating NMIs. Large cracked NMIs at the surface (2c) with limited extension into the depth (a) did not propagate under such fatigue conditions for 2c/a ratio higher than 3. Furthermore, specific crystallographic relationships between NMIs and the adjacent metallic grain explained different crack propagation configurations from pre-cracked NMIs, i.e. interfacial debonding and transgranular crack propagation involving single or multiple-slip activity.

The equiaxed microstructure of Ti-6Al-4V contains nominally 10µm to 15µm α -phase grains. Depending on processing, these fine grains may aggregate into large, millimeter-scale regions of similar crystallographic orientation. These so-called microtextured regions are detrimental to quasi-static and fatigue properties. Their presence may facilitate the formation of long-range strain localization—bands of plastic strain that traverse grain boundaries and terminate at the boundaries of the microtextured region which compromises strength and ductility—and can cause early fatigue crack nucleation. Furthermore, the low angle boundaries within microtextured regions offer little resistance to crack growth, and corresponding increases in crack growth rates have been observed in these regions. Despite significant research into the effects of microtextured regions on macroscopic properties, there is still a lack of rigorous definition of what constitutes a microtextured region. To this end, we present a computational study in which deformation simulations are performed to study the effect of the intensity and character of microtexture on the localization of plastic strain. Mean orientation and intensity of microtexture are parameterized in a suite of simulations. Simulations indicate that strain localization is facilitated both by the presence of some amount of orientation spread within a microtextured region, and further by the intensity of microtexture in neighboring regions. Simulations are further discussed with respect to high resolution experimental measurements of intragrain strain in a microtextured Ti-6Al-4V specimen, which exhibit similar mechanical trends.

The local mechanical properties of a dissimilar friction stir welded AA-2024-T3/AA-2198-T3 joint were documented during a uniaxial tensile test. High-resolution digital image correlation was performed during monotonic tensile tests to capture the local in-plane strain fields of the heterogeneous macrostructure of the weld. In the shoulder-affected region, banded macrostructures with heterogeneous mechanical properties were found. They were related to pronounced textures regions, which can be associated to strain-rate gradient during one rotation of the tool. The banded macrostructures in the nugget region were observed to be responsible for early plasticity in the joint and ultimately to be the fracture location of the weld. The heterogeneous mechanical response of the joint was also investigated by microhardness measurements. Differences were found between hardness and local tensile properties, demonstrating microhardness measurements can be misleading and only direct high-resolution digital image correlation techniques can document the mechanical behavior of materials having complex and heterogeneous micro-/macrostructures. Keywords: Friction stir welding (FSW), Digital image correlation (DIC), Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), Texture, Aluminum alloys, Banded macrostructures, Microhardness, Dissimilar joint

High resolution scanning electron microscope digital image correlation (SEM DIC) was performed in situ during uniaxial loading on Ti-6Al-4V rolled titanium plate to determine the dependence of strain localization on microstructure and microtexture. Individual grains with preferred orientation for basal slip exhibited plastic localization along basal planes before macroscopic yielding. With additional strain, but still below macroscopic yielding, pyramidal and prismatic plastic activity was observed as slip bands transmitting across many grains and entire microtextured regions (MTRs). The localization of long range plastic strain occurred within MTRs that allowed for slip transmission across grains with low angle boundaries. The rolled titanium plate material having strong [ 0001 ] and [ 10 1 ¯ 0 ] texture components showed pyramidal and prismatic type slip extending across entire MTRs at strains well below macroscopic yielding. These strain localization processes occur much earlier in straining and over lengthscales much longer than observed with conventional slip offset imaging. The implications for properties are discussed.

International audience; High-resolution digital image correlation (HR-DIC) techniques have become essential in material mechanics to assess strain measurements at the scale of the elementary mechanisms responsible of the deformation in polycrystalline materials. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the use of laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) coupled with DIC techniques to deepen knowledge on the deformation process of polycrystalline nickel-based superalloy at room temperature. The LSCM technique is capable of detecting both in-plane and out-of-plane strain localization within slip bands at the sub-grain level. The LSCM observations are consistent with previous in-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies: The onset of crystal plasticity occurs primarily near Σ3 twin boundaries with bulk locations in the elastic domain (macroscopic stress as low as 80% of the 0.2 % offset yield strength (Y.S.0.2%)). This intense irreversible strain localization occurs with either a high Schmid factor (μ > 0.43) or a significant elastic modulus difference between the pair of twins (ΔΕ > 100 GPa). In the plastic deformation domain, transgranular slip activity following slip systems with the highest Schmid factor is mostly responsible for the deformation at the grain level, thus leading to strain percolation. The simultaneous in-plane and out-of-plane deformation assessment via the HR-LSCM-DIC technique was found to be essential for the identification of active slip systems. Finally, the HR-LSCM-DIC technique enabled the quantification of the real glide amplitude involved in the three-dimensional shearing process at the grain level that solely in-plane measurements cannot provide.

Damage initiation during cycling loading of polycrystalline metallic alloys involves localized damage at the scale of individual grains. To better understand damage processes and to build models for material behavior, there is a need for quantitative assessment of the microstructural configurations that favor fatigue crack initiation. In materials that form annealing twins during processing, these special interfaces are often locations of particular interest for their role in strain and damage accumulation. In the present study, fatigue experiments in the very high and low cycle fatigue regime on a Rene 88DT polycrystalline nickel-base superalloy were performed to statistically evaluate grain-scale features that favor crack initiation. Combined elastic and plastic criteria at the grain scale have been developed. A crack distribution function is defined to compare and assess the effect of the microstructural parameters for the two fatigue regimes.

Damage during cycling loading of polycrystalline metallic alloys involves localized plastic straining at the scale of individual grains. To better understand damage accumulation processes and to build models for material behavior there is a need for quantitative assessment of the heterogeneous strain fields at the grain and even more microscopic scales. In the present study, a digital image correlation (DIC) approach has been developed to measure the strains at the grain level and at finer scales where plastic strain localization is manifested as physical slip bands. Strain fields have been measured in situ and ex situ on a Rene 88DT polycrystalline nickel-based superalloy to assess the grain-scale deformation processes during monotonic straining in tension and compression. DIC analysis and transmission electron microscopy demonstrate that slip occurs in a highly localized manner. The highest localized strains developed in slip bands that formed on {1 1 1} planes parallel to, and slightly offset from, annealing twins. Enhanced local straining below yield was observed during compression loading. The degree of strain concentration caused by slip bands impinging on grain boundaries was also analyzed. The results are compared to predictions of plasticity models.

The new capabilities of a FEG scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) detector for defect characterization have been studied in parallel with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging. Stacking faults and dislocations have been characterized in strontium titanate, a polycrystalline nickel-base superalloy and a single crystal cobalt-base material. Imaging modes that are similar to conventional TEM (CTEM) bright field (BF) and dark field (DF) and STEM are explored, and some of the differences due to the different accelerating voltages highlighted. Defect images have been simulated for the transmission scanning electron microscopy (TSEM) configuration using a scattering matrix formulation, and diffraction contrast in the SEM is discussed in comparison to TEM. Interference effects associated with conventional TEM, such as thickness fringes and bending contours are significantly reduced in TSEM by using a convergent probe, similar to a STEM imaging modality, enabling individual defects to be imaged clearly even in high dislocation density regions. Beyond this, TSEM provides significant advantages for high throughput and dynamic in-situ characterization.

International audience; A methodology is presented for the use of the oxide scale that develops in polycrystalline Ni-base super-alloys at service temperature, as a speckle pattern for μm-scale resolution strain measurements. Quantitative assessment of the heterogeneous strain field at the grain scale is performed by high-resolution SEM digital image correlation under monotonic and cyclic loading in polycrystalline Ni-base superalloys up to 650 • C. In the René 88DT superalloy, strain localization is observed near twin boundaries during low cycle fatigue (LCF) at intermediate temperatures, correlating with activation of {111}}110 and {111}}112 slip systems. A strong correlation between the microstruc-tural configuration that promotes strain localization during monotonic loading and crack initiation at 650 • C in low cycle fatigue was observed.

International audience; Fatigue crack initiation in the direct aged version of the nickel-based superalloy Inconel 718 has been investigated at room temperature in the low stress/very high cycle regime via ultrasonic fatigue testing. Three different microstructures have been examined at the same strain amplitude in order to understand the influence of non-metallic inclusions (NMIs), i.e. carbides, carbonitrides and nitrides, and Σ3 twin boundary density on lifetime and failure mode. A slight refinement in grain structure and a higher Σ3 twin boundary density is associated with substantial reductions in lifetime. Decreasing Σ3 twin boundary density for fine grain microstructures results in a change in crack initiation mechanism from strain localization within grains at the high end of the grain size distribution to cracking of NMIs. To study the early stages of crack initiation and growth, specimens with pre-cracked NMIs were also tested in order to examine the role of the surrounding grain structure. Pre-cracked NMIs mainly result in macroscopic failure initiation at NMIs independent of the wrought microstructure. However, pre-loading specimens within the plastic domain highlighted the competition in crack initiation mode between cracked-NMIs and favorably oriented twin boundaries. Crack arrest from most of the pre-cracked NMIs demonstrates that surrounding grain structure (grain orientation, local plasticity and roughness in the vicinity of crack tip due to pre-straining) play a key role in the fatigue life of components stressed in the nominal elastic regime.