Load Line Displacement Partitioning in Creep Crack Growth Analyses of 316H Stainless Steel

Author(s):  
Michael D. Jones ◽  
Kamran M. Nikbin ◽  
Catrin M. Davies

Accelerated creep crack growth tests in the laboratory can lead to greater levels of plasticity at the tip of a creep crack than would be experienced in service. This is problematic when trying to determine C* which is used to model the stress field ahead of a crack. Deflection partitioning methods must be used in order to determine the contribution to the load line displacement rate as a result of creep which in turn is used to calculate C*. This partitioning can lead to negative values of the creep load line displacement rate due to the high contribution from plasticity. The amount of assumed plasticity is likely to be erroneously high as it is currently assumed that the material behaviour fits a Ramberg-Osgood model, when in reality such a fit does not predict the behaviour well over a large range of stress. This work compares the load line displacement determined from solutions based on a Ramberg-Osgood model with those calculated from finite element simulations using uniaxial tensile data to model the plasticity. The simulations formulated crack growth by means of a crack length vs time criterion using experimental crack growth data. It is found that the theoretical solutions do over predict the amount of plastic deformation compared to the numerical results. It is also found that for the short term test considered, the load-line displacement due to creep deformation was small compared to that from crack growth.

2004 ◽  
Vol 261-263 ◽  
pp. 1319-1324 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.S. Jeong ◽  
Byeong Soo Lim

At high temperatures typical for service conditions in fossil power plants, the creep fracture is dominated by the formation, growth and coalescence of cavities. Using high temperature pipe materials, P92 and P122, the characteristics of creep crack growth were analyzed in this study according to the cavities. The characteristics of cavities play a critical role in creep crack propagation and load line displacement. The effect of the load line displacement rate(dv/dt) and crack growth rate(da/dt) on the da/dt–Ct relation of creep crack growth was evaluated at different temperatures and Ki(initial stress intensity factor) values. The number of cavities increased with increasing temperature and Ki. The crack growth rate and load line displacement rate increased with the increase in the cavity numbers. The kind and distribution of these internal flaws were investigated by an intelligent phased array ultrasonic method and they were utilized in deriving the relationship with the creep crack growth rate, which will predict the creep characteristics of these materials.


Author(s):  
K. M. Tarnowski ◽  
C. M. Davies ◽  
K. M. Nikbin ◽  
D. W. Dean

Elastic and plastic load line displacement (LLD) rates are often ignored when analyzing Creep Crack Growth (CCG) tests due to difficulties in accurately determining their value for complex crack morphologies typical of creep. Instead, the total LLD rate is assumed to be entirely due to creep. This simplistic approach overestimates the crack tip characterizing parameter C* which is non-conservative. This paper presents a review of the current method of interpreting CCG test data in ASTM E1457 and proposes an improved approach which accounts for the elastic and plastic LLD rates. Estimations of the elastic and plastic LLD rate are obtained from a partial unload immediately after load-up and a full unload, at the end of the test, prior to final failure. Some finite element validation of this method is presented. Implementing this approach will facilitate more realistic CCG laws.


Author(s):  
Jorge de Andres ◽  
Michael D. Jones ◽  
Catrin M. Davies

Abstract A new technique has recently been proposed to provide improved estimates of the creep contribution to the crack mouth opening displacements (CMOD) and displacement rates during creep crack growth (CCG) tests. This technique employs finite element analysis that incorporates material specific uniaxial tensile test data to simulate crack growth in an experimental test and can account for strain history and creep stress relaxation effects during CCG tests. In this work, this new methodology is applied to analyse the results of a CCG test performed on a relatively low constraint single edge notched tension, SEN(T), geometry. The proportions of the CMOD due to elasticity and plasticity are quantified, and compared to historic, standardised methods of estimating these values. The new method reduces the over estimation of the contribution of plasticity to the CMOD measurement. The impact of this analysis on CCG test results is discussed.


1981 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Smith ◽  
G A Webster

Estimates of stress intensity factor, K, reference stress, σref, and creep parameter, C∗, have been made for compact tension (CT) and double cantilever beam (DCB) test-pieces containing side grooves. Limit analysis techniques were used to determine the latter two parameters. It is shown that the expressions developed for σref are sensitive to the collapse mode proposed, whereas those for C∗ are largely independent. Comparisons of predictions of creep crack growth data on CT and DCB specimens of a 1 per cent CrMoV steel in terms of K and σref have revealed different dependences for the two geometries, suggesting that neither parameter gives satisfactory correlations. Better overall agreement is obtained with the C∗ parameter, even though gross creep deformations were not observed. It is suggested that further improvement may be gained with this parameter if more accurate estimates of C∗, which allow the inclusion of elastic terms, are used.


Author(s):  
Adam D. Bettinson ◽  
Noel P. O’Dowd ◽  
Kamran M. Nikbin ◽  
George A. Webster

In this work the effects of specimen size and type on creep crack growth rates in stainless steel are examined. Experiments have been carried out on high constraint compact tension specimens (CT) and low constraint centre cracked panels (CCP) of ex-service 316H stainless steel. All testing was carried out at 550°C. Constraint effects have been observed in the data, with the large CT specimens having the fastest crack growth rate and the small CCP specimens the slowest. These trends are consistent with those that would be predicted from two parameter (C*–Q) theories. However, it is found that a constraint dependent creep crack growth model based on ductility exhaustion overpredicts the constraint dependence of the crack growth data.


Author(s):  
A. Saxena ◽  
T. Hollstein ◽  
G. A. Webster ◽  
T. Yokobori

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