A critical analysis of the conventionally employed creep lifing methods

The deformation of structural alloys presents problems for power plants and aerospace applications due to the demand for elevated temperatures for higher efficiencies and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The materials used in such applications experience harsh environments which may lead to deformation and failure of critical components. To avoid such catastrophic failures and also increase efficiency, future designs must utilise novel/improved alloy systems with enhanced temperature capability. In recognising this issue, a detailed understanding of creep is essential for the success of these designs by ensuring components do not experience excessive deformation which may ultimately lead to failure. To achieve this, a variety of parametric methods have been developed to quantify creep and creep fracture in high temperature applications. This study reviews a number of well-known traditionally employed creep lifing methods with some more recent approaches also included. The first section of this paper focuses on predicting the long-term creep rupture properties which is an area of interest for the power generation sector. The second section looks at pre-defined strains and the re-production of full creep curves based on available data which is pertinent to the aerospace industry where components are replaced before failure. © 2014 by the authors