Complex thermal mechanical fatigue (CTMF) tests were performed on the austenitic stainless steel AISI 316 L which is a candidate material for steam turbine blades. The tests were performed on the two specimen TMF testing system as described in [1]. The first specimen represents a volume element near the surface, the second an element inside the component. Each specimen undergoes an individual temperature cycle simulating the thermal loadings at the respective locations. The earlier heating and cooling of the surface with respect to the inner regions is simulated by a phase shift of the temperature cycles which have the same maximum and minimum temperatures, identical heating and cooling rates and dwell times of 45s at the maximum temperature. The mutual constraint between both specimens and the. balance of internal and external forces are achieved by a four channel digital controller using suitable control algorithms. Generally, cyclic hardening occurs in both specimens. If the external force is zero this case corresponds to pure thermal fatigue cyclic creep towards negative total strains is observed, which is due to the fact that in both specimens compressive loadings occur at higher temperatures than tensile stresses. The cyclic creep rate strongly increases with increasing phase shift between the temperature cycles. Sufficiently high external tensile forces result in ratchetting towards tensile strains. Again, the creep rate increases with increasing phase shift, and, of course, with increasing external forces.