CREEP

It can be defined as the slow & progressive

(increasingly continuing) deformation of a
material with time under a constant stress.
It is both a time & temperature dependent

phenemenon.
The method of carrying out creep tests is to

subject the specimen to a constant stress

while maintaining the temperature constant
and measuring the extent of deformation.
The resulting data are presented as
deformation (strain)-time curve.
 Deformati
on (strain) E

V0
C

B
Instantaneou
s elastic A
strain
Tim
Primar Secondary Tertiar
y
e
y Steady-State
Creep Creep Creep
 When a load is applied at the beginning of
a creep test, the instantaneous elastic
deformation (AB) is followed by transient
or primary creep (BC) then the secondary
or steady-state creep (CD) and finally by
tertiary or accelerated creep (DE).

Instantaneous deformations Elastic

The primary creep rate has a decreasing

rate because of work hardening. It is
similar to delayed elasticity (retarded
elasticity) and the deformations are
recoverable.
 Secondary creep is essentially viscous in
character. The minimum creep rate (V0)
is determined by the slope /t.
The secondary creep stage is highly
temperature-sensitive. It can be related
to temperature with an equation similar
to that in viscosity.
E
A e RT
n

t
 Tertiary creep occurs at an accelerated
rate. Time to rupture & stress
relationship can be given as:
tr: time to failure
tr a n
a, n: material
constants
The two parameters determined from
creep tests are:
1. /t (Steady state creep rate):
engineering design parameter for long-
life applications.
2. Rupture lifetime (tr): relatively short-life
applications
 Cree
p
Strai
T4 or 4
T3 or 3
T1<T2<T3<T4
n
T2 or 2
1<2<3<
T1 or 1 4

Tim
e

Both temperature & applied stress

adversely affect the creep strains.
Usually under the same temperature
different stress levels are applied & the
creep strains are determined.
 Cree 3=69MP
p
a
d/d 2=62MP
Strai
n t a
d/d 1=55MP
t a
d/d
t

Time

When the slope of two curves (d /dt) are

determined the material constants can
then be determined. In practice, however,
three or more stress levels are usually
used for discrepancies in lab data.
 Ex: In the creep test of an aluminum alloy at
180C various stresses were applied and the
corresponding creep rates were determined.

Cree 62
p MPa
Strai 0.0066 For 55 MPa 0.0025
1/hr t
n
55
MPa
0.0025 For 62 MPa 0.0066
t
1/hr

Time
(hrs)

Determine the creep rate for the stress of

59 MPa
0.0066 B 62 n
62 n
2.64 n
0.0025 B 55 n 55
ln 2.64 n ln 62 n ln 55
n=
8.1 17
B 2 10

So for = 59
MPa
17
2 10 59 0.0044 1/hr
8.1

t
 FATIQUE
Under fluctuating / cyclic stresses, failure can occur at
loads considerably lower than tensile or yield strengths
of material under a static load: Fatigue
Estimated to causes 90% of all failures of metallic
structures (bridges, aircraft, machine components, etc.)
Fatigue failure is brittle-like (relatively little plastic
deformation) - even in normally ductile materials. Thus
sudden and catastrophic!
Applied stresses causing fatigue may be axial (tension
or compression), flexural (bending) or torsional
(twisting).
Fatigue failure proceeds in three distinct stages: crack
initiation in the areas of stress concentration (near
stress raisers), incremental crack propagation, final
catastrophic failure.


mea Fluctuatin
g stress
n
max

min

max Reverse
mean=
0 min time d stress
Cyclic stresses are characterized by maximum, minimum
and mean stress, the range of stress, and the stress ratio
max min min
mean R
max min 2 max
 Fracture caused by fatique is brittle (even in
ductile materials)

Fatique Tests are carried out to determine:

1. The stresses that can be applied over a
specified number of repetitions
2. The life under a specified stress level

For ferrous metals and alloys the strength of

the material under repeated stress is called as
Endurance Limit or Fatique Limit

For most other materials fatique limit does not

exist. In those the strength under repeated
loading is given by Fatique Strength
 In a fatique test, stress-number of load
repetitions is plotted to obtain S-N
curves (Wohler Curves)
Fractur
e
strengt
h(S) Ste
el
Fatiqu
e
Limit
Fatique Aluminu
strengt m
h
1 1 10 10 106 # of load
0 0 3 repetition (log
N)
 Endurance Limit: Maximum stressthat can
be applied repeatedly an infinite number of
times (for most steels 35%-60%)

Fatique Strength: Maximum stress that can

be applied repeatedly over a specified
number of load repetitions (for example 10 6)

The relationship b/w stress and number of

load repetitions is given by:

k: constant n: constant (8-

k N
a
15)
 Factors Affecting the Fatique
Behavior
Quality
Environmental Conditions (temperature,
corrosion)
Range of Stress

Frequency of Loading

Surface Effects (Most cracks start from

the surface. Better design coulb be
utilized to reduce this)
Avoid Round
sharp corners
corners (better
(poor)