Some numerical approaches of creep, thermal shock, damage and delayed failure of ceramics and refractories

Numerical simulation is now very often used to predict the behaviour of components in service conditions. This paper is interested in specific approaches concerning ceramic materials and refractories. Creep can be satisfactorily described by a kinematic hardening, and exhibits different creep rates in tension and compression. Concerning the thermal shock of materials, the numerical approach depends whether or not the material is able to develop a sprayed out damage, leading to micro or macro-cracking. Finally, delayed failure at high temperature can be considered as a consequence of creep, but the random aspect of failure seriously complicates the numerical models. The lack of experimental data presently limits the calibration and the validation of the numerical models.