Unified correlation of creep crack growth rate with constraint parameter for different materials.

In the CCG life assessment for defective structures based on the two-parameter method with considering constraints, the establishment of a correlation equation between the constraint parameter and the CCG rate for a material at a temperature is very important, but it is difficult and costly. For engineering applications, it is desirable to have a unified correlation equation for different materials. In this work, based on a large amount of experimental CCG rate data of different specimens from the literature, combining with the finite element (FE) calculations of a new unified creep constraint parameter Ac ,, a unified correlation equation has been obtained. In the CCG life evaluation for cracked structures based on the C*-Ac two-parameter method, this correlation equation may be used to estimate the constraint-dependent CCG rates for any materials at different temperatures. The correlation equations of eleven materials are also summarised in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]