Deriving creep constants from creep curve data

Article ID: x394

Product(s): COSMOSWorks, COSMOSDesignSTAR
Version: All Versions
Category: Nonlinear
Created: 07/17/2007
Last Revised: 07/19/2007

Discussion
How to enter creep in COSMOS
COSMOSWorks and COSMOSDesignSTAR use the Classical Power Law for Creep (Bailey-Norton law).
The creep strain at time t is :

where:
T = Temperature (Kelvin) (= input temperature + reference temperature + offset temperature)
CT = A material constant defining the creep temperature-dependency
C0, C1 and C2 are the three creep constants
If there is no temperature variation, then:

Note:

In the COSMOSWorks and COSMOSDesignSTAR Material dialog box, the C0, C1 and C2
constants are labelled:
C0 = CREEPCONST1
C1 = CREEPCONST2
C2 = CREEPCONST3
CT = CREEPTC
Check Include Creep Effect to activate the inclusion of creep effect in the selected
material model. Creep effect is considered only for nonlinear studies. Among all material
models available with nonlinear studies, creep effect is not available with linear elastic
orthotropic and viscoelastic material models.
For more information, please refer to Creep Models in the COSMOSWorks and
COSMOSDesignSTAR online help.
C1 = CREEPCONST2 is unitless. Therefore, its value doesn't change when you change the
time unit of the stress unit.
C0 = CREEPCONST1, though, changes. C0 depends on the time unit AND the stress unit.

Example
Suppose you have the creep data below (for Grades of Stainless Steel - Grade 310, reference:
http://www.fanagalo.co.za/tech/tech_grade_310.htm).
Creep data
Stress to develop a creep rate of 1% in the indicated time at the indicated temperature.
Time

Temperature (C)

550

600

650

700

750

800

10 000 h

Stress (MPa)

110

90

70

40

30

15

100 000 h

Stress (MPa)

90

75

50

30

20

10

Lets say we pick two stress points from the data above:
Temperature = 550., Creep Strain(Ec)=0.01 ->

Time(hr)

Stress(MPa)

10,000.

110.

100,000.

90.

In The Creep Strain Formulation:

It is usually safe to assume C2=1., so we need to find C0 & C1.

0.01 = C0 (110.)^C1 (10,000.)
0.01 = C0 (90.)^C1

(100,000.)

Equating the two equations, and using the Log function:

C1 Log(110) = Log[(90.^C1)(10.)] = C1 Log(90.) + 1.
From here you can calculate C1 = 11.47
And either equation can be used to get C0=2.5988e-29
Note:

The above constants have been calculated using non-standard units (MPa and hours). If
you use instead N/m and seconds, like in the SI system, the data is changed. Actually,
C1 is unitless. Therefore, its value doesn't change when you change the time unit of the
stress unit. C0, though, changes. C0 depends on the time unit AND the stress unit.
If you use N/m and seconds, then:
C0 = 0.01 / (100000*3600 * (90E6)^11.47 = 1.616 E-102
Therefore, for the above material, if you are using the SI system and seconds as the time
unit, you should enter:

CREEPCONST1 = 1.616 E-102

CREEPCONST2 = 11.47
CREEPCONST3 = 1

Now if you do this calculation for another temperature, and then add to the formulation the
temperature term TC, you can also calculate the last constant for thermal variations.