Application of a Novel Crack Mouth Opening Displacement Partitioning Technique to Creep Crack Growth Tests on SEN(T) Geometries of Type 316H Stainless Steel

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.