STOCHASTIC SIMULATION OF CREEP CRACK GROWTH IN TEST SPECIMENS

Summary: Creep of metallic materials causes damage of many components in power and chemical industry. The process results in crack initiation, its growth and final fracture. The creep crack growth can be determined using the C∗-integral. The evaluation of the C∗-integral is described in R5 assessment procedure. However, calculation inputs (load, dimensions, material properties) show variation and can be considered as random variables. This paper is focused on stochastic simulation of creep crack growth. The Monte Carlo method was employed to determine distribution functions of time which is necessary for growth to given crack size. The procedure was applied to some test specimens (CT, MT) but it can be used for creep crack simulation in real structures, for example in piping