CREEP

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.
Instantaneous
elastic strain
Deformation
(strain)
Time
A
V
0
E
D
C
B
Primary
Creep
Secondary Steady-
State Creep
Tertiary
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 (V
0
) 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.
RT
E
n
e A
t

=
A
A
o
c
Tertiary creep occurs at an accelerated rate.
Time to rupture & stress relationship can be
given as:
n
r
a t o =
t
r
: time to failure
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 (t
r
): relatively short-life
applications
Both temperature & applied stress adversely
affect the creep strains. Usually under the
same temperature different stress levels are
applied & the creep strains are determined.
Creep
Strain
T
1
or
1
Time
T
2
or
2
T
3
or
3
T
4
or
4
T
1
<T
2
<T
3
<T
4

1
<
2
<
3
<
4
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.
d/dt
d/dt
d/dt

1
=55MPa

3
=69MPa

2
=62MPa
Creep
Strain
Time
Ex: In the creep test of an aluminum alloy at
180C various stresses were applied and the
corresponding creep rates were determined.
Time (hrs)
Creep
Strain
0.0066 1/hr
0.0025 1/hr
55 MPa
62 MPa
For 55 MPa
For 62 MPa
0025 . 0 =
A
A
t
c
0066 . 0 =
A
A
t
c
Determine the creep rate for the stress of 59 MPa
n
B 62 0066 . 0 =
n
B 55 0025 . 0 =
=
n
n
55
62
64 . 2
55 ln 62 ln 64 . 2 ln = n n
n = 8.1
So for = 59 MPa
17
10 2

= B
0044 . 0 59 10 2
1 . 8 17
= =
A
A

t
c
1/hr
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.
Reversed
stress
Fluctuating
stress

m
a
x

mean
=0

mean

min

max

min
time

min max
o o o = A
2
min max
o o
o
+
=
mean
max
min
o
o
= R
Cyclic stresses are characterized by maximum, minimum and mean stress,
the range of stress, and the stress ratio
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)
Steel
Aluminum
Fatique
strength
Fatique
Limit
Fracture
strength
(S)
# of load
repetition (log N)
1 10 100 10
3
10
6

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:
N k
a
= o
k: constant n: constant (8-15)
: stress N: # of repetitions
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 sharp
corners
(poor)
Round corners
(better design)