CREEP

-Creep: Defined as the time-dependent and permanent deformation of materials

when subjected to a constant load or stress,

- Creep occur when: Materials are often placed in service at elevated temperatures
and exposed to static mechanical stresses (e.g., turbine rotors in jet engines and
steam generators that experience centrifugal stresses, and high-pressure steam
lines).

- Creep is an undesirable phenomenon and is often the limiting factor in the lifetime
of a part. It is observed in all materials types; for metals it becomes important only
for temperatures greater than about 0.4Tm (Tm absolute melting temperature).

-Creep deformation may produce sufficiently large changes in the dimensions of a

component to either render it useless for further service or cause fracture.

-For example, a creep failure of a cobalt-base alloy turbine vane is shown in Fig. 1.
The bowing is the result of a reduction in creep strength at the higher temperatures
from overheating.
Fig. 1 Creep damage (bowing) of a cobalt-base alloy turbine vane from
overheating
-Creep deformation : may also result in the complete separation or fracture of a
material and the break of a boundary or structural support.

-Fracture may occur from either localized creep damage or more widespread bulk
damage caused by the accumulation of creep strains over time.

-Stress or creep rupture is suitable to occur when damage is widespread with

uniform stress and temperature exposure, as in the situation of thin-section
components (such as steam pipes or boilers tubes).

-On the other hand, creep damage can also be localized, particularly for thick-section
components that are subjected to rise in stress (strain) and temperature.

-Creep cracking may also originate at a stress concentration or at preexisting

defects in the component. In these cases, most of the life of the component is
spent in crack growth.

- Therefore, creep life estimation may involve evaluation of both creep strength
(i.e., creep rate, stress rupture) and resistance to fracture under creep conditions.
 Fig. 2 Creep crack in a turbine vane.
-An example of a creep-related crack is shown in Fig. 2. Cracks may develop
at a critical location and propagate to failure before the end of the predicted creep-
rupture life.
 Bulk Creep Behavior
-Some of the key material properties at high temperature are: thermal expansion
coefficient, stress rupture, elastic modulus, fatigue life, and oxidation resistance.

-Total strain at temperature is given by the sum of elastic stress-strain modulus,

thermal expansion strain, and creep strain.

-Change in elastic modulus with temperature can not be neglected at higher

temperatures.

-Creep occurs in any metal or alloy at a temperature where atoms become

sufficiently mobile to allow timedependent rearrangement of structure.

-Creep behavior of a polycrystalline metal or alloy often is considered to begin at

approximately one-third to one-half of its melting point (~0.3 to 0.5 TM) measured
on an absolute temperature scale (degrees Kelvin or Rankine).

However, this rule of thumb is not necessarily the criteria for engineering design.
Actually, creep deformation becomes important when mechanical strength of a
metal becomes limited by creep rather than by yield strength.
This transition in engineering design is not directly related to melting temperature;
consequently, the temperature at which the mechanical strength of a metal
becomes limited by creep, rather than by elastic limit, must be determined
individually for each metal or alloy.

Approximate temperatures at which creep behavior begins for several metals and
alloys are listed in Table 1. Low melting-point metals (such as lead, tin, and high-
purity aluminum) may deform by creep at or a little above room temperature.
In contrast, refractory body-centered cubic metals (such as tungsten and
molybdenum) and nickel-base super alloys require temperatures near 1000 °C to
activate the onset of creep-deformation engineering significance.

Typical materials and application temperatures of some creep-resistant alloys are

listed in Table 2.
-A typical creep test: consists of subjecting a specimen to a constant load or
stress while maintaining the temperature constant; deformation or strain is
measured and plotted as a function of elapsed time.

-Most tests are the constant load type, which yield information of an engineering
nature; constant stress tests are employed to provide a better understanding of the
mechanisms of creep.

-Upon application of the load there is an instantaneous deformation, as

indicated in the figure, which is mostly elastic.

-The resulting creep curve consists of three regions, each of which has its own
distinctive strain–time feature.
-Primary or transient creep occurs first, characterized by a continuously
decreasing creep rate; that is, the slope of the curve diminishes with time.

-This suggests that the material is experiencing an increase in creep resistance

or strain hardening deformation becomes more difficult as the material is strained.

-For secondary creep, sometimes termed steady-state creep, the rate is constant;
that is, the plot becomes linear. Stage of creep that is of the longest duration. The
constancy of creep rate is explained on the basis of a balance between the
competing processes of strain hardening and recovery, being the process
whereby a material becomes softer and retains its ability to experience
deformation.
-Finally, for tertiary creep, there is an acceleration of the rate and ultimate failure.
- This failure (rupture ) and results from microstructural and/or metallurgical
changes; for example, grain boundary separation, and the formation of internal
cracks, cavities, and voids.
- Also, for tensile loads, a neck may form at some point within the deformation region.
These all lead to a decrease in the effective cross-sectional area and an increase
in strain rate.
For metallic materials most creep tests are conducted in uniaxial tension using
a specimen having the same geometry as for tensile tests. Uniaxial compression
tests are more appropriate for brittle materials; these provide a better measure of
the intrinsic creep properties inasmuch as there is no stress amplification and crack
propagation, as with tensile loads. Compressive test specimens are usually right
cylinders or parallelepipeds having length-to-diameter ratios ranging from about 2 to 4.
Typical creep deformation and intergranular
cracking in a jet-engine turbine
blade.
-Generally, creep failures are recognized by local ductility and multiplicity of
intergranular cracks.

-However, creep deformation of engineering significance can also occur before

intergranular fracture initiates. Stressrupture data (log stress versus log time to failure)
typically show an inflection when a change in fracture mechanism occurs.

-This includes significant formation of sigma and a change in fracture from

transgranular to intergranular.

-Cavitation Damage. The most common form of microstructural change is the

accumulation of nucleation and growth of voids.

-Void growth is well understood, because voids grow by the same mechanisms that
cause creep deformation.
-For the high-temperature case, two adjacent grains may move at different creep
rates. If the rates cannot be made to match, a gap forms between the grains.
-In general, higher creep rates cause voids to form earlier during the creep
process. Thus, any material alteration that leads to a lower creep rate also improves
creep strength.
-Bulk damage from creep deformation typically occurs by the nucleation and growth
of voids either within grains or, along grain boundaries.

-Internal voids first nucleate during creep deformation and then grow.

-Minimum and maximum remaining life fraction can be specified.

-The qualitative-quantitative relation is advantageous, because data from surface

replication can be predictive in terms of generating a conservative minimum- and
maximum-life estimate.

-The maximum life is useful in a predictive maintenance environment, because it

would dictate the planning of future repairs or replacement.
Creep life assessment based on cavity classification
in boiler steels
 STRESS AND TEMPERATURE EFFECTS

Both temperature and the level of the applied stress influence the creep
characteristics.(Figure 9.41).
At a temperature substantially below 0.4Tm, and after the initial deformation, the
strain is virtually independent of time.
With either increasing stress or temperature, the following will be noted:
(1)the instantaneous strain at the time of stress application increases;
(2) the steady-state creep rate is increased;
(3) the rupture lifetime is diminished.
The results of creep rupture tests are presented as the logarithm of stress versus the
logarithm of rupture lifetime. Figure 9.42 is one such plot for
a nickel alloy in which a linear relationship can be seen to exist at each temperature.
For some alloys and over relatively large stress ranges, nonlinearity in these curves
is observed.
Both temperature and stress effects on the steady-state creep rate are
represented graphically as logarithm of stress versus logarithm of s for tests
conducted at a variety of temperatures.
Figure 9.43 shows data that were collected at three temperatures for the same
nickel alloy. Clearly, a straight line segment is drawn at each temperature.
 ALLOYS FOR HIGH-TEMPERATURE USE

There are several factors that affect the creep characteristics of metals.
These include: melting temperature, elastic modulus, and grain size.

-In general, the higher the melting temperature, the greater the elastic modulus,
and the larger the grain size, the better is a material’s resistance to creep.

Relative to grain size, smaller grains permit more grain-boundary sliding, which
results in higher creep rates.

This effect may be contrasted to the influence of grain size on the mechanical
behavior at low temperatures [i.e., increase in both strength and toughness.

Stainless steels, the refractory metals and the superalloys are especially
resilient to creep and are commonly employed in high-temperature service
applications. The creep resistance of the cobalt and nickel super alloys is enhanced
by solid-solution alloying, and also by the addition of a dispersed phase which is
virtually insoluble in the matrix. In addition, advanced processing techniques have
been utilized; one such technique is directional solidification, which produces either
highly elongated grains or single-crystal components (Figure 9.45).
Another is the controlled unidirectional solidification of alloys having specially
designed compositions wherein two-phase composites result.
Stress rupture of heater tube. (a) Heater
tube that failed due to stress rupture.
(b)and (c) Stress-rupture voids near the
fracture.
 Design Methodology

-Service conditions are certain:

1- temperature
2- Time requirements
3- Loading

- Design is based upon above conditions, so you must determine the

following:
1- Material properties at this conditions (yield
strength or rupture strength for certain time )
2- Allowable creep rate
3- Estimated service time before rupture.
Several parameters have been used for comparison and interpolation of stress-rupture
data.

One used very widely is the Larson-Miller parameter (LMP),

defined by F.R. Larson and J. Miller. The LMP is useful to determine the remaining
rupture life at a given applied stress, and it is defined by the following equation:

LMP = T(R°)[C + log t (hours)] × 10-3

where T is the test temperature in Rankine (°F + 460), t is the operating time in hours,
and C is a material constant, approximately 20 for a low-alloy steel.
 Thermomechanical Fatigue: Mechanisms and Practical Life
Analysis
THERMOMECHANICAL FATIGUE (TMF) refers to the process of fatigue damage
under simultaneous changes in temperature and mechanical strain.

Fatigue damage at high temperatures develops as a result of inelastic deformation

where the strains are non-recoverable.

Therefore, TMF damage is complex, as it may accumulate over a range of

temperatures and strains under both steady-state and/or transient conditions.

Thermomechanical fatigue is also often a low-cycle fatigue issue, because relatively

infrequent transients (compared to steady-state exposures) can contribute to the
accumulation of TMF damage in various kinds of equipment, such as jet engines, land-
based turbines for power generation, and pressure vessels.

For example, during straight and level flight, aircraft jet engines have essentially
constant temperatures and imposed loads, where steady-state creep is the primary
damage mechanism.
During takeoff and landing, however, the transient demand for more power output
induces load and temperature changes, which thus impose fatigue damage.
- In this case, consider each flight to be one fatigue cycle with an imposed hold
time, so in addition to creep and fatigue acting independently, there are creep-fatigue
interactions.

- Life prediction in the TMF regime is particularly important in high-temperature

turbines (jet engines and land-based turbines), the power-generation industry (both
conventional and nuclear), and in the automotive industry, to name a few. Significant
advances can be made by combining mechanistic studies with increasingly
sophisticated finite-element thermal stress analysis.

-Development of more refined engineering-based models should result in less reliance

on component simulation, which is subject to some uncertainty.

-It has been customary to characterize materials in terms of their fatigue and creep
properties (including creep/fatigue/environment properties) and to compute the life of
components such as turbine blades using experimental data and models that implicitly
or explicitly describe damage evolution as a function of the number of cycles.

-While such experimental and analytical information is essential for life

prediction, it is not always sufficient. It has been recognized that some of the most
damaging events occur during transient operation when temperature as well as loads
and/or strains are changing independently.