Metallurgy Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268, U.S.A.
Abstract:
A theoretical analysis for the crack growth under creep conditions in ductile materials has been carried out based on the stress distribution in the ligament section and the plastic deformation around the crack zone. The two extreme cases namely: (a) large creep deformation over the entire ligament and; (b) negligible creep deformation even near the crack tip, are considered based on the model proposed. The resulting expressions are compared with the experimental data carried out on a 6061 Al alloy in the temperature range of 0.55–0.65 Tm.