31

z directions respectively. The effective stress ( σ e ) and the effective strain rate ( ε&e )

given above are expressed by,

σe =
1
[(σ y − σ z ) 2 + (σ z − σ x ) 2 + (σ x − σ y ) 2 + 6(τ yz2 + τ zx2 + τ xy2 ) ] 1/ 2
(2.16)
2

ε&e =
1
[(ε& y − ε& z ) 2 + (ε& z − ε& x ) 2 + (ε& x − ε& y ) 2 + 6(ε& yz2 + ε& zx2 + ε& xy2 ) ]
1/ 2
(2.17)
2

The Eqs. (2.15) - (2.17), are based on the assumption that the material is

isotropic.

2.3.5 Activation Energy for Steady State Creep

The steady state creep dominates at temperatures above about 0.5Tm. The

simplest assumption that the creep is a thermally activated process, which can be

expressed by the following Arhenius type rate equation,

ε& s = Ae − Q / RT

where the symbols are defined below:

ε&s : the steady state creep rate

Q : the activation energy for the rate controlling process

A : the pre-exponential complex constant containing the frequency of vibration of

the flow unit, the entropy change and the factor that depends on the structure

of the material.

T : the absolute temperature

R : the universal gas constant

A temperature differential creep test is often used to measure the activation

energy for creep. If the temperature interval is small such that the creep mechanism

would not be expected to change, one can write,