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APL 102

Creep- & Cyclic- deformation in Materials

Concepts: Diffusional creep, Grain boundary sliding, cyclic loading

Lecture 31
 Recap
Creep (Next Lab) Pb creeps at RT
Why d ?
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Creep is a time dependent “high temperature” plastic deformation

Frank – Read source at constant load or stress
Damage nucleation
T  0.4 Tm  Creep is a concern
Accumulation of dislocation
vs.
Relaxation of dislocation

stress and temperature

dependence Creep
mechanisms

  b / L
 Cross-slip
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Screw dislocations can cross-slip (by thermal activation) and can give rise
to plastic strain [as f(t)]

Slip plane 1
b

1 2
3
This happens at low temperatures when resolved shear stress on other system is enough
 Dislocation climb
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 Edge dislocations piled up against an obstacle can climb to another slip

plane and cause plastic deformation [as f(t), in response to stress]
 Rate controlling step is the diffusion of vacancies

2
1
High temperature is key
for this mechanism
 Dislocation Creep: Edge dislocation
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Climb unlocks dislocations from the precipitates that pin them and
further glide then can take place

Lock-unlock explains the progressive nature of creep

 Diffusional Creep
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Nabarro-Herring creep →
high T → lattice diffusion
Diffusional creep
Coble creep → low T →
Due to GB diffusion
 Atomic diffusion: Mechanism
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How atomic diffusion takes place in crystalline solids??

Bulk diffusion takes place by two mechanism:

Jump from one interstice to another Movement requires vacancy to sit next to it

Interstitial diffusion Vacancy diffusion

C, O, N, B and H diffuse interstitially in most crystals Zn atom diffuses in brass
 Fast diffusion paths: Grain boundary
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and dislocation core

Grain boundary diffusion

Dislocation-core diffusion
 Diffusion Creep
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 In response to the applied stress vacancies preferentially move from surfaces/interfaces
(GB) of specimen transverse to the stress axis to surfaces/interfaces parallel to the stress
axis→ causing elongation

 This process like dislocation creep is controlled by the diffusion of vacancies → but
diffusional does not require dislocations to operate
 

Flow of vacancies
 Diffusional Creep
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Grain elongation under mechanical driving force, but this time atoms move from one
grain faces to other

This does not involve any dislocation motion

At high T/Tm the diffusion takes place by bulk diffusion

 Grain Boundary Sliding
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After deformation

Before deformation

11
http://www.ias.ac.in/meetings/myrmeet/16mym_talks/ahchokshi/ahchokshi.html
 Grain boundary sliding
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Grain boundary regions can slide past

Log (viscosity Pa-s) each other under stress

High temperature and stress both

crystal
30 required

glass
Grain boundaries in materials
were good at low temperature but
18
they become detrimental at high
12 Undercooled liquid
temperatures

Stable liquid

Tg Tm
 Grain boundary sliding
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 At low temperatures the grain boundaries are ‘stronger’ than the

crystal interior and impede the motion of dislocations

 Being a higher energy region, the grain boundaries melt before the
crystal interior

 Above the equi-cohesive temperature grain boundaries are weaker

than grain and slide past one another to cause plastic deformation
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High temperature materials
• Metals and alloys  Applications
• Ni and Fe-Ni based alloys  Gas Turbine and Jet
• Co based alloys Turbine
• Ti-alloys (poor oxidation resistance)  Nuclear reactors
• Few grades of steel,  Power plants
particularly austenitic steels  Spacecraft
• Tungsten based materials  Chemical processing
• Dispersion strengthened materials
• Ceramics  Problems
• Toughened zirconia
 Mechanical degradation
(thermal barrier coatings)
 Chemical degradation
• Tungsten carbide (Cutting tools)
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Question for thought

What form of microstructure or material is being used for

Turbine Blades?
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Which
microstructure
will show high
creep resistance?
16
IIT Delhi Improvements in blade Coarser grains
manufacturing technique: -> Less grain boundaries
-> Better for creep application

Single Crystal
-> No grain boundaries
-> Best for creep application

Nanocrystalline materials
-> not good for creep applications!
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18
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How to make materials Creep Resistant??
Adopt means to minimize diffusion and dislocation and grain boundary movement

High melting point → E.g. Precipitates, Ceramics, W

Dispersion hardening → ThO2 dispersed Ni (~0.9 Tm)

Creep
resistance Ni3Al in Ni by addition of Al
Solid solution strengthening

Minimize grain boundaries

like Single crystal / aligned (oriented) grains
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Question for thought

What other mode of deformation possible in

materials/applications?
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Dynamic loading - deformation

 Fatigue
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Fatigue is a deformation that happen in materials/structures subjected to

repeated cyclic loads
For example, bridges and connecting rods etc.,

Bridge Connecting rod

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Question for thought

What are the different types of fatigue that is possible?

Thermal fatigue &

Mechanical fatigue
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Mechanical fatigue: Types of Cyclic Loading

(a) Low amplitude acoustic vibration

(b) High-cycle fatigue: cycling below
the yield strength
(c) Low-cycle fatigue: cycling above
the yield strength but below the
the tensile strength

High-cycle fatigue loading is most significant in engineering terms

Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David Cebon
 Fatigue
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Fatigue failures occur due to cyclic loading at stresses below or above a material’s yield strength

 Depends on the amplitude of the stress

and the number of cycles

 Loading cycles can be in millions for an

aircraft

 Fatigue testing must employ millions of

fatigue cycles to provide meaningful
design data

Materials: engineering, science, processing and design, 2nd edition Copyright (c)2010 Michael Ashby, Hugh Shercliff, David Cebon
 Fatigue test
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A common method of testing fatigue life is the Wohler rotating rod test or
rotating bending method

One end of the specimen is mounted in a rotating chuck and a load suspended
from the other end

The specimen experiences cyclic forces, from tension to compression in a

sinusoidal cycle, as it rotates
 Announcement
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 Quiz 2: Tentative date: Nov. 1st (Wednesday) @ 5:30 pm

 One Compensating Class: 25th October 5:30 to 6:20 pm ?

 Attendance uploaded: Check it and contact for any discrepancies,

medical reason leave will be considered when need arises