Creep failure simulations of 316H at 550 °C: Part I – A method and validation

This paper proposes a method to simulate creep failure using finite element damage analysis. The creep damage model is based on the creep ductility exhaustion concept, and incremental damage is defined by the ratio of incremental creep strain and multi-axial creep ductility. A simple linear damage summation rule is applied and, when accumulated damage becomes unity, element stresses are reduced to zero to simulate progressive crack growth. For validation, simulated results are compared with experimental data for a compact tension specimen of 316H at 550 °C. Effects of the mesh size and scatter in uniaxial ductility are also investigated.