Creep is a time dependent deformation that occurs in metals and alloys after prolonged exposure to stress, which is below or above yield strength, at elevated temperatures. Failures related to creep appears with the tertiary stage of this three-stage process, but they initiate and develop at the early stages. Creep beginning temperature depends on the material composition and operating stress. The service life of components of high temperature and pressure applications usually ends with a creep related failure. Creep behaviour is an important parameter for lifetime assessment of materials. ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code determine allowable stresses formation to be 1% creep expansion, or deformation, in 100,000 hours of service life. This property of creep damage necessitates careful investigation of creep behaviour of materials that are used in the design of aerospace components and other industrial parts which are gas turbines, super-heaters, boilers and reactors.
This summary presents a summary of recently developed computational and numerical tools to reconstruct residual stress fields and analyze creep in nickel superalloy welds used in aerospace engineering components. This approach combines experimental data with eigenstrain theory to reconstruct stress fields at the macroscopic scale and provided reliable means for numerical prediction of creep behavior of welded components under complex loading conditions. Experimental data in the form of profilometry scans was interpreted using a range of iterative eigenstrain methods that included the adaptation of the contour method and artificial intelligence models for eigenstrain-creep analysis. The integration of principles of artificial intelligence with eigenstrain models allowed highly accurate results to be obtained which were validated by comparison with experimental data obtained using independent techniques such as neutron diffraction. The use of artificial intelligence models is discussed for residual stress reconstruction and creep behavior prediction in annular aeroengine parts manufactured using inertia friction welding. To extend the range of experimental data included in consideration, the height Digital Image Correlation (hDIC) technique was introduced that utilizes information regarding triaxial displacements obtained from profilometry, allowing deeper and more reliable analysis to be conducted. The hDIC technique was validated using operando tensile testing data.