LM Parameter

Creep is time-dependent straining under constant stress.  At high temperatures greater than
half the melting point (using absolute temperatures), metals begin to creep.  Creep changes
and damages the material and is manifested as overall elongation of a part leading to
cracking and failure. Predicting failure due to creep can be challenging. Creep is both time-
dependent and nonlinear, and therefore creep analyses can be long running and difficult to
converge.
Failure due to creep, also referred to as creep rupture, stress rupture, or creep fracture, can
occur for a given material at a combination of stress, temperature and time. If this data
exists for your particular combination of stress and temperature. Testing can be performed
to determine time to creep rupture using different combinations of stress and temperature,
but obviously, testing cannot be done for every combination of stress and temperature, and
in some cases testing is not feasible for long time spans.  
The Larson-Miller approach can be used to determine creep rupture time for any stress-
temperature combination for a given material.
The Larson-Miller equation was developed during the 1950s while Miller and Larson were
employed by GE performing research on turbine blade life.
The Larson-Miller expression consolidates many of the variables in creep data. The equation
represents a linear expression to calculate a parameter, P that relates creep time and
temperature to a given stress and creep strain level, typically creep rupture. The expression
is shown below in equation (1), where t = time in hours, T = temperature in degrees
Fahrenheit, and C is an empirical constant.  A value of 20 for C is applicable for low alloy
steels, and a factor of 30 is sometimes used in the case of higher alloy steels. Larson-Miller
parameter P is sometimes divided by a factor of 1000 for convenience.
The elegant and quite successful Larson-Miller (L-M) method of extrapolating stress rupture
and creep results is based on the contention that the absolute temperature compensated
time function should have a unique value for a given material depending only on the applied
stress level, where
T (20+ log t)
LM=
1000

L is the Larson-Miller parameter;

T is the temperature in degrees Rankine (°F + 460);
t is the time in hours for an isothermal condition.

The factor of 1000 is sometimes, but not always, used.

The L-M method has proven satisfactory for many steels and superalloys and is often used
not only for extrapolative purposes but also for comparative evaluation of different alloys.
Generation of creep and stress rupture data in the newer alloy systems and in environments
other than air has, however, shown that C other than 20 can lead to improved correlation of
actual creep and stress rupture data. In fact, C values ranging from I0 to 50 have been
reported in many cases.

The factor of approximately 20 is applicable to C-Mn and low alloy steels; alternatively, a
factor of 30 is sometimes applied in the case of higher alloy steels, e.g. 9%Cr steels.

It is also possible to include heating and cooling by adding an additional time, δt, to the
existing time factor in the above expression:

The Larson-Miller parameter has been modified for use on creep-resistant alloys with a high
degree of dispersion strengthening, e.g. some nickel alloys and steels
Another modification of the Larson-Miller parameter - the Manson-Haferd parameter - has
been proven to be more applicable to 9%Cr steels than the Larson-Miller parameter.

P (σ) is the Mansen-Haferd parameter, and tr is the rupture duration (in hours).

The Larson-Miller parameter is similar to the Hollomon-Jaffe parameter, which deals with

postweld heat treatment, but has different units.