CREEP

Introduction
When materials are subjected to loading conditions, they continue to deform indefinitely and
may not regain their original form or shape even after the load is removed. Creep is a time-
dependent increase of strain at constant stress experienced by metals at elevated temperature and
by visco-elastic materials at room temperature.

Creep is favoured at high temperatures due to the increased ease of plastic deformation.
Therefore the study of creep is important for those components that are operated at high
temperatures e.g gas turbines, rocket engines e.t.c

Materials have different temperature characteristics, what is high temperature for one material
may not be so high for another. To cater for this, temperature is always expressed as a
homologous temperature

Operating Temp. (absolute )

Homo log ous Temp. =
Melting Temp. (absolute )
Creep becomes important when the homologous temp. is greater than 0.3 ( In some books 0.4
and 0.5)

Creep Curve
The creep behavior of materials can be obtained from lab tests in which a specimen is loaded in
tension using a dead weight at constant temperature. The deformation of the specimen is
monitored with time by measuring the specimen elongation. The creep curve is obtained by
plotting elongation versus time at a give temperature and for the given constant load or constant
true stress. The resultant curve has 4 parts:-

εo = Instantaneous Strain
I - Primary Creep Stage
II - Secondary Creep Stage
III - Tertiary Creep Stage

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 Fracture
ε Constant
Slope decrease due load
Constant
to work-hardening
stress

III
II
εo
I

Time

a. Instantaneous elongation
This is the initial elongation of the specimen which arises from the elastic response of the
specimen to the applied load.

b. The primary stage is a transient stage.

There is a reduction in creep rate i.e creep resistance increases with time due to work-
hardening.

c. In the secondary stage, the creep rate is constant i.e there is a balance between strain
dε
hardening and recovery. Creep rate is a minimum in this stage of curve. This is the
dt
most important stage of creep.

d. The tertiary stage of creep occurs when necking starts and the creep rate increases
leading to failure.

If the test were carried out at constant stress, there would be no tertiary stage (as
indicated by the dotted line)

Changes in stress or temperature affect the creep curve as shown below:-

2
 σ5
ε T5 σ4
T4 σ3
T3
σ2
T2

σ1
T1

σ5 >σ4>σ3>σ2>σ1
T5> T4> T3> T2> T1

Time
We notice that:-
1. As stress σ or temp (T) rises, the strain ε increases
2. At Low σ (or T) there may be only the tertiary stage (i.e no secondary stage)
dε
3. increases as σ (or T) increases
dt
4. At high σ (or T) there is not secondary stage
5. The time taken for the component to fail decreases as σ (or T) increases.

Reasons for Creep

At high temperature, there is a high mobility of atoms, vacancies and interstitial particles e.t.c.
At high temp, there is an increase in the number of vacancies and other imperfections. High
temperatures cause changes in slip systems and may also cause new slip systems to operate.

In age-hardening alloys, over-aging may occur causing a loss in strength.

In some alloys, recrystalisation might occur e.g martensitic steel will change to tempered
martensite

Creep Mechanisms
These are dependent on temperature and strain rate. At homologous temperatures less than 0.3,
the main mechanism is dislocation movement (a non-diffusional process). The determining
factor is the activation energy needed to help dislocations overcome obstacles.

At high Homologous temperature (H.T > 0.3) diffusional processes become prominent.

i) Diffusion of interstitial atoms and vacancies

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This occurs due to the higher mobility both through and along grain boundaries from more
stressed to less stressed parts; i.e the grain lengthens.

P
The grain
lengthens

More stressed

Less stressed
P

2. Slip – New slip systems become operative

3. Sub-grain formation – Lattice bending due to non-homogeneous deformation leading to excess

dislocations of one sign. The rearrangement may result in a new grain.

4. grain boundary sliding: This is the relative movement of two grains

As the grain boundary area increases i.e as the grain becomes finer, the creep resistance
decreases unlike most properties where fine grains leads to better resistance.

Time dependence of creep

The dependence of creep on time may be demonstrated by a series of rheological models made
up of an elastic spring and a linearly viscous dashpot for most engineering polymers. Though
the approach may seem attractive, it does not simulate correctly the creep behavior of metals.

Time dependence of creep in metals has been illustrated by a variety of mechanisms which
include internal stress concept, the balance between work hardening and recovery processes and
the chemical kinetics approach. Designers however prefer certain empirical relationships which
have been found to describe the creep behavior most accurately. Rheological models for
polymers include the Voight-Kelvin model, Maxwell element model and the standard linear solid
(SLS) model while those that describe creep behaviour in metals include Internal stress concept,
chemical kinetics and empirical expressions.

a. Voight-Kelvin Model

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Consider a spring and dashpot arranged in parallel with a stress σ applied as shown below:-

σ
ε

σ2
σ1

σ
ε1 ε2 ε

Time
σ
Voight-Kelvin Model and a primary creep curve

The element stresses are:-

σ1 = Eε (for the spring side) and σ2 = ηε’ ( for the dashpot side)

E is the Young’s modulus, η the viscosity and ε’ the strain rate. When the stress is applied, both
spring and dashpot experience the same amount of stretch. The sum of σ1 and σ2 must also
equal the applied stress σ to ensure equilibrium

ε1=ε2=ε and σ1 = σ2 = σ

For the element

σ= Eε + ηε’

When the above equation is integrated at constant stress σ:-

σ
ε=
E
[1 − e − Et / η
]
A plot of the above equation results in the curve shown (above), and it can be concluded that for
polymers, the primary stage of the creep curve behaves like a Voight-Kelvin model.

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 b. Maxwell Model

σ
ε

σ1
σ
Slope =
σ2 η
σ
ε

σ
Time

The model consists of a spring and dashpot arranged in series as shown above. It can be deduced
that:-

σ σ σ σt
σ1 = σ2 = σ and ε= + dt or ε= +
E η E η

A plot of the equation will be a shown above and depicts the elastic component of the creep
curve i.e the instantaneous elongation and the secondary creep stage in which creep rate is
constant.

c. Standard Linear Solid Model

In this model, the two elements in Maxwell and Vioght-Kelvin Models are connected in series.
The resulting strain will be:-

ε=
E1
σ
[1 − e − E1t / η1
] + Eσ +
σt
η2
2
Where the first, second and third terms represent primary creep, instantaneous elongation and
secondary creep respectively.

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 σ

E1 η1

Primary

E2 Secondary

η2 Elastic

Time
σ

d. Internal stress concept (for metals)

The model assumes that creep rate ε’ is governed by an effective stress σe given by
σe =(σ-σi) where σi is an internal stress which opposes deformation as a result of strain
hardening. The creep rate is then given by:-

ε ' = C (σ − σ i )h

Where h lies between 3 and 4, C is a constant and σ is the applied stress. The internal stress
increases during primary creep but attains a constant value during secondary creep. This concept
is analogous to that of the attainment of a balance between work-hardening and recovery
processes during creep. If r is the recovery rate and n is the coefficient of strain hardening, then
the creep rate is given by:-

r
ε '=
n

e. Chemical Kinetics model

For temperatures greater than half the absolute melting temperature of a metal, dislocation
motion is diffusion-controlled. Ficks first law of diffusion states that flux is proportional to
concentration gradient. Adopting this law to creep yields:-

dε ⎛ ε '−ε ' s ⎞
=⎜ ⎟
dt ⎝ T ⎠

Where ε’ is the creep rate, ε’s is the secondary creep and T is the relaxation time for the
rearrangement of dislocations. By integrating the above equation one obtains an equation

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containing two terms, one describing the primary creep stage and the other, the secondary creep
stage:-

ε = (ε '−ε ' s )T (1 − e −t / T ) + ε ' s t

Primary Secondary

f. Empirical expressions
Empirical expressions which may be used for creep strain include one by Andrade which
describes the primary and secondary stages of creep and one by Graham and Walles which
describes the primary, secondary and tertiary stages:-

ε = αt 1 / 3 + β t - Andrade

ε = αt 1 / 3 + βt + γt 3 - Graham and Walles

Where α,β and γ are material constants which depend on stress and temperature.