Factors influencing creep model equation selection

During the course of the EU-funded Advanced-Creep Thematic Network, ECCC-WG1 reviewed the applicability and effectiveness of a range of model equations to represent the accumulation of creep strain in various engineering alloys. In addition to considering the experience of network members, the ability of several models to describe the deformation characteristics of large single and multi-cast collations of epsilon(t,T,sigma) creep curves have been evaluated in an intensive assessment inter-comparison activity involving three steels, 21/4CrMo (P22), 9CrMoVNb (Steel-91) and 18Cr13NiMo (Type-316). The choice of the most appropriate creep model equation for a given application depends not only on the high-temperature deformation characteristics of the material under consideration, but also on the characteristics of the dataset, the number of casts for which creep curves are available and on the strain regime for which an analytical representation is required. The paper focuses on the factors which can influence creep model selection and model-fitting approach for multi-source, multi-cast datasets. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.