Creep

Creep is the tendency of a solid material to slowly move or deform permanently under the influence of stresses. It occurs as a result of long term exposure to high levels of stress that are below the yield strength of the material. Creep is more severe in materials that are subjected to heat for long periods, and near the melting point. Creep always increases with temperature.

The rate of this deformation is a function of the material properties, exposure time, exposure temperature and the applied structural load. Depending on the magnitude of the applied stress and its duration, the deformation may become so large that a component can no longer perform its function — for example creep of a turbine blade will cause the blade to contact the casing, resulting in the failure of the blade. Creep is usually of concern to engineers and metallurgists when evaluating components that operate under high stresses or high temperatures. Creep is a deformation mechanism that may or may not constitute a failure mode. Moderate creep in concrete is sometimes welcomed because it relieves tensile stresses that might otherwise lead to cracking.

Unlike brittle fracture, creep deformation does not occur suddenly upon the application of stress. Instead, strain accumulates as a result of long-term stress. Creep deformation is "time-dependent" deformation.

The temperature range in which creep deformation may occur differs in various materials. For example, Tungsten requires a temperature in the thousands of degrees before creep deformation can occur while ice formations will creep in freezing temperatures.[1] As a rule of thumb, the effects of creep deformation generally become noticeable at approximately 30% of the melting point for metals and 40–50% of melting point for ceramics. Virtually any material will creep upon approaching its melting temperature. Since the minimum temperature is relative to melting point, creep can be seen at relatively low temperatures for some materials. Plastics and low-melting-temperature metals, including many solders, creep at room temperature as can be seen markedly in old lead hot-water pipes. Planetary ice is often at a high temperature relative to its melting point, and creeps.

Creep deformation is important not only in systems where high temperatures are endured such as nuclear power plants, jet engines and heat exchangers, but also in the design of many everyday objects. For example, metal paper clips are stronger than plastic ones because plastics creep at room temperatures. Aging glass windows are often erroneously used as an example of this phenomenon: measurable creep would only occur at temperatures above the glass transition temperature around 500 °C (900 °F). While glass does exhibit creep under the right conditions, apparent sagging in old windows may instead be a consequence of obsolete manufacturing processes, such as that used to create crown glass, which resulted in inconsistent thickness.[2][3]

An example of an application involving creep deformation is the design of tungsten light bulb filaments. Sagging of the filament coil between its supports increases with time due to creep deformation caused by the weight of the filament itself. If too much deformation occurs, the adjacent turns of the coil touch one another, causing an electrical short and local overheating, which quickly leads to failure of the filament. The coil geometry and supports are therefore designed to limit the stresses caused by the weight of the filament, and a special tungsten alloy with small amounts of oxygen trapped in the crystallite grain boundaries is used to slow the rate of coble creep.

In steam turbine power plants, pipes carry steam at high temperatures (566 °C or 1050 °F) and pressures (above 24.1 MPa or 3500 psi). In jet engines, temperatures can reach up to 1400 °C (2550 °F) and initiate creep deformation in even advanced-coated turbine blades. Hence, it is crucial for correct functionality to understand the creep deformation behavior of materials.