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03-03-09 8th Lecture

Creep and Stress Rupture Testing


Introduction
Plastic deformation at high temperature is called creep. Creep may also be defined as a time-dependent
deformation of a material under an applied load that is below its yield strength. It is most often occurs at
elevated temperature, but some materials creep at room temperature. Creep terminates in rupture if steps are
not taken to bring to a halt. It has been observed that engineering alloys do not exhibit time dependent
deformation under normal service conditions unless used in an application when the temperature is relatively
high as in boiler superheater tubes, turbine blades and disks, nuclear reactor fuel element cladding and so on.
There are exceptions as well. Lead creeps at room temperature. The creep test is carried out to determine the
relative performance of a metal when subjected to stress while exposed to high temperatures. In this test the
metal specimen is exposed to some suitable elevated temperature for extended periods of time depending
upon the melting point of the metal. The main objective of this experiment is to determine the high
temperature strength of the materials. In the creep test, the specimen continuously deforms with time. The
rate of deformation is influenced by the magnitude of the applied stress and the temperature. The
deformation here means a time-dependent increase in length. The test is carried out at a high temperature.
What is high temperature for one material may not be so high for another. To compensate for this,
temperature often is expressed as a homologous temperature i.e., the ratio of the test temperature to the
melting point on an absolute temperature scale. Generally creep becomes of engineering significance at a
homologous temperature T/Tm greater than 0.5. However creep occurs from a very low temperature probably
from 0K to the melting point.

Creep Testing Equipment


A common type of creep testing equipment is shown in figure below:

In this equipment, the specimen is loaded in tension, and the specimen used is similar to the standard tensile
specimen. The surface of the specimen test length should be free from tool marks, scratches or other
imperfections that might cause stress concentrations. The specimen is held vertically in long shackles of heat
resisting metal which are attached at the top to the frame and at the bottom to a strain measuring device to
determine the elongation under test. A furnace is mounted on the frame and surrounds the specimen. The
equipment is provided with the temperature controls and recording equipment and also time and sensitive
extension measuring devices.
The control of temperature is very important. The variation should not be more than 1C, if the
temperature is less than 450C and 2C if the temperature is above 450C.
The stress applied to the specimen should be accurately determined to within 1 %. Care must be taken to see
that the specimen is in perfect alignment so that true axiality of loading is obtained. The best way to calculate
the amount of stress applied is to perform a static tensile test on the specimen of the material provided and
determine the tensile strength. The applied load is equal to the load causing a stress equal to the two-third of
the strength of the specimen.
Creep data for general design use are usually obtained under conditions of constant uniaxial loading and
constant temperature. The resulting strain and time are taken as data points and are plotted as strain versus
time. The time of each test may be matter of hours, weeks, or months, even years. However, in these days
the test may be run for 1000 to 3000 hours.
To run a creep test, the following steps are followed:
a. In making tests at a given temperature, the unloaded specimen is first heated to the required
temperature. When the temperature of the specimen shows constancy, the gauge length is observed.

b. The predetermined load is applied quickly without shock.


c. Measurements of the subsequent creep (extensions) are observed at sufficiently frequent intervals to
define the strain time curve. Continue taking readings until the specimen fractures.
d. At the conclusion, the average of at least 50 observations should be reported at the actual test
temperature.
A family of curves for various levels of stress may be plotted on the same graph paper.
As indicated in the image, creep often takes place in three stages.

When a load is applied at the beginning of a creep test, the instantaneous elastic deformation (elongation) AB
is followed by the primary or transient creep BC. In the initial stage, strain occurs at a relatively rapid rate.
The deformation is partly elastic and partly plastic. In the second stage, the rate of deformation gradually
decreases until it becomes approximately constant. CD is the secondary or steady state creep. This constant
creep rate is called the minimum creep rate or steady-state creep rate since it is the slowest creep rate during
the test. In the third stage called tertiary state the strain rate increases until failure occurs. During third stage
creep, necking begins, the stress increases, and the specimen deforms at an accelerated rate until failure
occurs. The time required for failure to occur is the rupture time. Either a higher stress or a higher
temperature reduces the rupture time. The rate of deformation and the duration of the second stage are useful
information for design purposes.
Creep % is calculated in the same manner as the elongation % associated with a tensile test, i.e.,
Creep %

Elongation / Original length x 100

The difference between the elongation % and the creep % is that the former reflects the immediate response
of the material to the applied load, whereas, the latter reflects the response of the material after the load has
been applied for a very long period of time.
Creep rate

/ t = strain / time

is determined by the slope of the curve in the period of secondary creep CD. In other words, the slope of the
steady-state portion of the creep curve is the creep rate.

Creep is also known as the Viscous Flow. Creep rate increases with increasing temperature because diffusive
re-arrangements responsible for viscous flow occur more readily. At temperature greater than about half the
absolute m.p. various viscous like processes become operative in addition to plastic flow processes, whereas
at temperatures below about 0.5 Tm, viscous processes tend to be unimportant. This division is reflected by
typical creep curves for a metal at high and low temperatures. See figure below.

The creep rate is usually mentioned as % per hour.


Total Creep

Total creep at any timet can be found from the following relation:
t = 0 + 0 t

where 0 = intercept of the line CD with the creep strain axis


Creep rate = 0 = / t
From the design point of view, two conditions can be considered.
1. Within the assumed life, the total creep must not exceed a certain value.
2. Within the assumed life and within the limitations of a specific total creep, the material must not
fracture.
Creep in service is usually affected by changing conditions of loading and temperature and the number of
possible stress-temperature-time combinations is infinite. While most materials are subject to creep, the
creep mechanism is often different between metals, plastics, rubber, and concrete.

Stress Rupture Properties


Stress rupture testing is similar to creep testing except that the stresses are higher than those used in a creep

testing. Stress rupture tests are used to determine the time necessary to produce failure so stress rupture
testing is always done until failure. Data is plotted log-log as in the chart above. A straight line or best fit
curve is usually obtained at each temperature of interest. This information can then be used to extrapolate
time to failure for longer times. A typical set of stress rupture curves is shown below.

The Creep Test versus Stress Rupture Test


The Creep Test:
a. The creep test measures dimensional changes which occur from elevated
temperature exposure.
b. Ordinarily the creep test is carried out at relatively low stresses so as to avoid
tertiary creep.
c. The creep test is frequently conducted for a period of 2000 hrs and often to
10,000 hrs.
d. In the creep test the total strain is often less than 0.5 %.
The Stress Rupture Test
a. The stress-rupture test is basically similar to the creep test except that the test
is carried out to the failure of the material.
b. The stress-rupture test is known as short time test. The rupture test is used to
determine time to rupture under specified conditions of temperature and stress
with only approximate measurements of strain during the course of experiment.
c. The stress-rupture test measures the effect of temperature on the long time load
bearing characteristics.
d. Higher loads are used with the stress-rupture test than in a creep test and.
Therefore, the creep rates are higher.
e. In the stress-rupture test, the total strain may be around 50 %.
f. The stress-rupture test can usually be terminated in 1000 hrs.
g. It is particularly well suited in determining the relative high temperature
strength of new alloys for jet engine applications
These factors have contributed to the increased use of the stress-rupture test.

Stress and Temperature Effects


Both temperature and the level of applied stress influence the creep characteristics. At
a temperature substantially below 0.4 Tm, and after the initial deformation, the strain
is virtually independent of time.

Influence of stress and temperature T on creep behavior

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; and (3) the rupture lifetime is diminished.
The results of creep rupture tests are most commonly presented as the logarithm of
stress or versus the logarithm of rupture lifetime. Figure below is one such plot for
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.

Logarithm of stress versus logarithm of rupture lifetime for a low carbon-nickel alloy at three
temperatures

Empirical relationship have been developed in which the steady-state creep rate as a
function of stress and temperature is expressed. Its dependence on stress can be
written
/ t = K1n

where K1 and n are material constants. A plot of the logarithm of / t versus the
logarithm of yields a straight line with slope of n; this is shown in the figure below for
a nickel alloy at three temperatures. Clearly, a straight line segment is drawn at each
temperature.

Logarithm of stress versus logarithm of steady-state creep rate for a low carbon-nickel alloy at three
temperatures

Now, when the influence of temperature is included,


/ t = K2 n exp ( Qc/RT)
where K2 and Qc are constants; Qc is termed the activation energy for creep.

Data Extrapolation Methods:

The need often arises for engineering creep


data that are impractical to collect from normal laboratory tests. This is especially true
for prolonged exposures (on the order of years). One solution to this problem involves
performing creep and/or creep rupture tests at temperatures in excess of those
required, for shorter time periods, and at a comparable stress level, and then by
making a suitable extrapolation to the in-service condition. A commonly used
extrapolation procedure employs the Larson-Miller parameter, defined as
P = T (C + log tr)
where C is a constant (usually on the order of 20), for T in Kelvin and the rupture
lifetime tr in hours. The rupture lifetime of a given material measured at some specific
stress level will vary with temperature such that this parameter remains constant. Or,
the data may be plotted as the logarithm of stress versus the Larsen-Miller parameter,
as shown in the figure below.

Logarithm stress versus the Larson-Miller parameter for an S-590 iron.

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