Direct method on creep fatigue damage assessment considering full creep-cyclic plasticity interaction

This paper introduces the latest research and development of the Linear Matching Method (LMM) on the creep fatigue damage assessment of components subjected to high temperature and cyclic load conditions. The method varies from existing rule-based approaches in both the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (NH) and the UK R5 high temperature assessment procedure, where the creep behavior /creep damage and cyclic plastic response /fatigue damage are analyzed separately. In support to these the extended Direct Steady Cycle Analysis (eDSCA) has been proposed to provide a more accurate description of the potentially dangerous interaction between creep and cyclic plasticity during the load cycle, and hence is able to accurately address creep enhanced plasticity and cyclically enhanced creep.
The applications of the LMM eDSCA method for creep fatigue damage assessment to three practical problems are then outlined to demonstrate that the proposed direct method is capable of predicting an accurate component life due to creep fatigue and creep ratcheting damages by modeling cyclic plasticity and creep interaction using this new simplified direct method, providing a degree of accuracy and convenience in creep fatigue assessment hitherto unavailable and without the restrictions inherent in other methodologies.