A simple method to estimate elastic follow-up factors for transient creep parameter C(t) under secondary stress

Abstract

In this article, a semi-analytical method to estimate elastic follow-up factor as input to estimate the transient creep C(t) parameter under secondary loading is presented and validated against finite element results for a cracked two-bar structure under constant displacement loading. Predicted values of C(t) agree well with the finite element results for both elastic-creep cases and for elastic-plastic cases with the same creep and plastic hardening exponents. For elastic-plastic-creep cases with different creep and plastic hardening exponents, the proposed method gives good predictions at long time but can under-or over-predict C(t) at short time.