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Creep Life Prediction of 9Cr-1Mo Steel under

Multiaxial State of Stress

Article in Materials Science and Engineering A · August 2014

DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2014.07.096

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 Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials Science & Engineering A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Creep life prediction of 9Cr–1Mo steel under multiaxial state of stress

Sunil Goyal n, K. Laha
Mechanical Metallurgy Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102, India

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Creep rupture life of 9Cr–1Mo steel under multiaxial state of stress has been assessed. Stress
Received 17 June 2014 multiaxiality in cylindrical specimens during creep tests has been introduced by incorporating
Received in revised form circumferential U-notches of different notch root radii. Creep tests were carried out on both smooth
26 July 2014
and notched specimens of the steel at 873 K over the net applied stresses in the range of 110–210 MPa.
Accepted 28 July 2014
Available online 6 August 2014
The creep rupture life of the steel was found to be higher in the presence of notch than that of smooth
specimen indicating ‘notch strengthening’ behavior under multiaxial state of stress. The extent of
Keywords: strengthening tends to saturate for relatively sharper notches. Finite element analysis of stress and strain
9Cr–1Mo steel distributions across the notch was carried out to assess the notch strengthening behavior observed in
Creep life prediction
the steel. The reduction in the von-Mises stress, extent of which increased and tends towards saturation
Multiaxial state of stress
with increase in notch root radii, resulted in increase in rupture life under multiaxial state of stress.
Representative stress
Finite element analysis Estimation of the creep rupture life under multiaxial state of stress has been assessed based on the
Continuum damage mechanics different models, invoking the concept of skeletal point for calculating the representative stress. It has
been observed that the creep rupture behavior of the steel under multiaxial state of stress is
predominantly governed by the von-Mises stress. The creep rupture life has been predicted using finite
element analysis coupled with continuum damage mechanics.
& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The components operating at relatively high temperatures for
prolonged time experience time dependent creep deformation and
damage. The geometrical discontinuities and/or kind of loading
result in multiaxial state of stress in the components. Therefore, it
becomes important to evaluate the creep rupture life under
multiaxial stresses and establish a relationship with uniaxial creep
life for robust design of components. Various techniques have
been developed to test the materials under multiaxial creep
conditions at laboratory scale viz., thin-walled pipes subjected to
axial force and torque, tubes under internal pressure, two- and
three-dimensional cruciform specimens subjected to axial forces
and circumferentially notched specimens subjected to axial force
[1]. Among the various techniques for creep testing under multi-
axial loading, the most widely and conveniently used technique
for introducing multiaxial state of stress into a specimen is by
subjecting the circumferentially notched bar to axial tensile load
[2–5]. The constraint to radial deformation provided by the shank
introduces a state of multiaxial state of stress in the notch region
which depends upon the notch geometry and creep deformation
behavior of the material [1,6]. The advantage of using notched
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 91 44 27480118; fax: þ 91 44 27480075.
E-mail address: goyal@igcar.gov.in (S. Goyal).
specimens is that the multiaxial state of stress across the notch can
be varied by changing the notch root radius and does not require
sophisticated instrumentation for creep testing.
The creep rupture behavior of the material depends on the
components of stresses viz., maximum principal stress, hydrostatic
stress and von-Mises stress, which govern the creep deformation
and cavitation. It is widely reported that the (i) von-Mises stress
controls the deformation and creep cavity nucleation processes,
(ii) the maximum principal and hydrostatic stress control the
continuum cavity growth; whereas (iii) the maximum principal
stress controls the stress directed diffusion controlled intergranu-
lar cavity growth [7]. A concept of representative stress has been
introduced to estimate the rupture life under multiaxial state of
stress which considers the relative contribution of each of the
stresses in governing the creep rupture life [8]. Many approaches
are available in literature for defining the multiaxial stress rupture
criteria (MSRC) [8–10]. The most widely used approaches are as
proposed by Hayhurst et al. [11], Cane [12], and Nix et al. [7]. The
model proposed by Hayhurst et al. [11] relates the representative
stress as the algebraic sum of maximum principal stress and von-
Mises stress, whereas, the model proposed by Cane [12] relates the
representative stress as the multiplication of the maximum
principal stress and von-Mises stress incorporating material
dependent parameter influencing the contribution of each stress.
The model proposed by Nix et al. considers the principal facet
stress for MSRC [7].

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2014.07.096
0921-5093/& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360 349

Finite element analysis coupled with continuum damage

mechanics (FE-CDM) has been extensively used for prediction of
mechanical properties and especially for estimating stress distri-
bution and damage evolution around the notches under creep
conditions [13–15]. Single damage variable (based on Kachanov
model) was used to predict the creep rupture life of smooth and
notched specimens of titanium- and nickel-based superalloys by Fig. 1. Geometry of notched specimens with the dimensions (Table 2) used in creep
Hyde et al. [13]. Comparison of creep rupture life of notched experiments (all dimensions are in mm).
specimen was found to be in good agreement with the experi-
mental results. The damage was found to reach critical limit at the Table 2
center of notch throat plane for nickel-based superalloy, whereas, Dimensions of different notch geometries of the notched specimens.
at the notch root for titanium-based alloy. Analysis carried out by
D (mm) d (mm) r (mm) Notch acuity ratio (d/r)
Hyde et al. [16] on welded pipes and notched specimens using one
damage variable (based on Kachanov model) and three damage 8.35 5.00 5.00 1
variables [17] revealed that the analysis with single parameter 2.50 2
over-estimated the creep rupture life of the material under multi- 1.25 4
axial state of stress. 0.83 6
0.50 10
In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to 0.25 20
establish the relation between creep rupture life under multiaxial
state of stress and uniaxial creep conditions. The approaches
proposed by Cane [11], Hayhurst et al. [12] and Nix et al. [7] have elastic-plastically initially, depending on the notch root radius
been adopted and compared for their suitability for estimation of and net applied stress, followed by creep deformation.
representative stress for the steel. The creep rupture life of In order to estimate the representative stress which governs
notched specimens has been estimated based on FE-CDM con- the creep behavior of the steel under multiaxial state of stress, FE
sidering Cane's approach for estimating the representative stress. analysis of stresses at the skeletal point of notched specimens was
performed. In this analysis, the elastic modulus was assumed to be
160 GPa and constant A in Norton's equation was selected to give a
2. Experimental steady state creep rate of 10  5 h  1 at 210 MPa for a given value of
stress exponent ‘n’. The calculations were carried out for the ‘n’
Creep tests were carried out on smooth specimens of 9Cr–1Mo values ranging from 1 to 10 [8,18]. The element size was reduced
steel in the stress range of 110–210 MPa in air at 873 K. The closer to the notch root and elastic analysis was used to assure that
chemical composition of steel is given in Table 1. The steel was the mesh configuration was sufficiently refined near the notch root
subjected to normalization (1223 K for 15 min followed by air for the theoretical stress concentration factor. The analysis was
cooling) and tempering (1053 K for 120 min followed by air cool- continued till the stress redistribution across the notch throat
ing) heat treatment and had tempered martensitic structure. The plane attained a stationary state condition. In order to estimate the
effect of multiaxial state of stress on creep behavior of the steel has damage evolution and creep rupture life of the notched specimens,
been studied by carrying out creep tests at net stresses in the FE analysis was carried out incorporating continuum damage
range 110–210 MPa and 873 K on circumferentially U-notched mechanics constitutive equations using a FORTRAN program (user
specimens having notch root radii in the range 0.25–5 mm and defined material) within ABAQUS.
notch throat diameter of 5 mm as that of smooth specimens. The
geometry of the notched specimens is illustrated in Fig. 1 and
Table 2. These notch geometries resulted in notch acuity ratio (d/r)
of 1–20 and stress concentration factor of 1.2–3.4. 3. Results and discussion

2.1. FE analysis of stress distribution 3.1. Creep behavior under multiaxial state of stress

Finite element analysis of stress distribution across the notch Creep rupture life of the steel at 873 K in presence of notches of
throat plane during creep exposure has been carried out to various root radii ranging from 5 mm to 0.25 mm along with those
understand the creep behavior of the steel under multiaxial state of smooth specimens at different applied stresses is shown in
of stress. The 2D axisymmetric analysis was carried out using Fig. 2. The creep rupture lives of notched specimens were found to
4 noded quadrilateral elements with an ABAQUS 6.10 finite be higher than those of the smooth specimens, exhibiting creep
element solver. The analysis was carried out considering elastic– strengthening in the presence of notch for the steel. The extent of
plastic–creep behavior of the steel. The elastic–plastic behavior strengthening increased with notch acuity ratio and tends to
was incorporated in the model using the Hollomon equation saturate for higher notch acuity ratios (Fig. 3). Creep rupture
ðσ t ¼ K εn0
p Þ and creep behavior using Norton's creep law relating ductility of the steel decreased in presence of notch especially
the steady state creep rate with applied stress ðε_ s ¼ Aσ n Þ. The von- for sharper notches (Fig. 4).
Mises yield criterion has been used for occurrence of yielding in Fracture appearance of failed specimens was found to be
the steel. The material was assumed to deform elastically or dependent on the notch geometry and net applied stress. Fracto-
graphic observations revealed plasticity induced intragranular
ductile failure (Fig. 5) with cup and cone type appearance for
Table 1 relatively shallow notches and higher net applied stresses. Pre-
Chemical composition of the material (wt%). dominantly dimpled fracture was observed at the center (Fig. 5(b))
as well as at the notch root (Fig. 5(c)) of notch throat plane.
Material C Si Mn P S Cr Mo Fe Appreciably different fracture behaviour was observed for rela-
9Cr–1Mo steel 0.1 0.49 0.46 0.008 0.002 8.36 0.93 Bal.
tively sharper notches (Fig. 6). Mixed mode failure appearance
(Fig. 6(a)) comprising of ductile dimples at the notch central
350 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360
Fig. 2. Variation of rupture lives in presence of notches of different notch acuity
ratios as a function of net applied stress for the steel at 873 K.
Fig. 3. Variation of rupture lives as a function of notch acuity ratio at 873 K for
the steel.
Fig. 4. Variation of creep ductility (% reduction in area) as a function of notch acuity
ratio for the steel at 873 K.
region (Fig. 6(b)) and intergranular creep cavitation at the notch
root (Fig. 6(c) and 6(d)) was observed for relatively sharper
notches and lower net applied stresses.
3.2. FE analysis
Finite element analysis of stress distribution across the notch
throat plane has been carried out to understand the notch
strengthening observed in the steel. The material under multiaxial
state of stress undergoes elastic deformation followed by plastic
deformation depending on the stress level and notch geometry
and creep deformation. The von-Mises yield criterion has been
used for the onset of yielding in the steel during loading. The von-
Mises stress under multiaxial state of stress is defined as
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ðσ 1  σ 2 Þ2 þ ðσ 2  σ 3 Þ2 þ ðσ 3  σ 1 Þ2
σ vm ¼ ð1Þ
2
where σ1, σ2 and σ3 are the maximum, the intermediate and the
minimum principal stresses respectively. The creep deformation
initiates once the elastic–plastic deformation is complete. The
stresses redistribute as a result of difference in creep rates across
the notch throat plane and achieve the stationary state during
creep deformation. The axial stress on attaining the stationary
state after elastic–creep and elasto-plastic creep deformation is
shown in Fig. 7. The axial stress remained the same at the
stationary state irrespective of localized plastic deformation.
However, the time to reach the stationary state was found to be
dependent on local plastic deformation. It has been concluded that
the localized plastic deformation at the notch root does not play
significant role in the distribution of stresses across the notch
throat plane during creep exposure. The stress relaxations in the
notched specimens having notch root radii of 2.5 mm and 0.5 mm
at the notch root are shown in Fig. 8. The stress relaxes below the
net applied stress resulting in notch strengthening as observed in
the steel (Figs. 2 and 3). The extent of stress relaxation was found
to increase with increase in notch root radius. The stress after
relaxation was lower in case of relatively sharper notches. The
variations of von-Mises stress across the notch throat plane for
different notch geometries are shown in Fig. 9. The von-Mises
stress was found to be lower than net applied stress which
indicates notch strengthening as observed experimentally. The
von-Mises stress decreased with increase in notch sharpness
which results in increase in extent of strengthening. However,
the decrease in the stress was of lesser extent with increase in
notch sharpness, which indicates the saturating tendency of creep
strengthening with notch sharpness as observed experimentally
(Fig. 3).
3.3. Representative stress governing creep life under multiaxial state
of stress
The creep rupture life of material under multiaxial state of
stress depends on its creep deformation and cavitation behavior.
The mechanisms associated with the creep deformation and
cavitation have been discussed extensively under uniaxial and
triaxial states of stresses by Nix et al. [7], Cane et al. [12] and Goyal
et al. [19]. The creep rupture life under uniaxial loading is
expressed in terms of the applied stress as
tr ¼ Mσ  m ð2Þ
where m is the slope of the uniaxial creep rupture life with applied
stress in the log–log scale. Creep rupture life under multiaxial state
of stress can also be described by an equation similar to uniaxial
loading on incorporating a representative stress as
t r ¼ M σ rep
m
ð3Þ
The representative stress, σrep, is defined as the stress which would
result in the same creep rupture life for notched specimen as in
smooth specimen. If σrep 4 σnet (where σnet is the net applied stress
 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360
Fig. 5. SEM micrographs of 9Cr–1Mo steel with (a) typical cup and cone fracture with shear lip observed in notched specimen. Fracture surface appearance at the (b) center
of notch throat plane and (c) notch root region for relative shallow notches (notch root radius of 5 mm) at 150 MPa and 873 K.
in the notched specimen), the presence of notch decreases the
rupture life of material which causes notch weakening; whereas, if
σrep o σnet, the presence of notch increases the rupture life of
material resulting in notch strengthening.
Creep cavitation proceeds with the nucleation of creep cavities
at grain boundary and their growth and linkage into discrete
cracks leading to final fracture. Creep cavity nucleation is generally
associated with the stress and strain concentrations at the dis-
continuities on the grain boundary, like precipitate, ledges, grain
boundary triple points etc. Creep rupture under multiaxial state of
stress depends on the components of stresses viz., von-Mises
stress, maximum principal stress and hydrostatic stress. It is
widely reported that von-Mises stress controls the deformation
and creep cavity nucleation processes, hydrostatic stress controls
the continuum cavity growth and maximum principal stress
controls the stress directed diffusion controlled intergranular
cavity growth [7]. The relative contribution of each of the stresses
depends on the material's deformation and fracture response to
the stresses and is reflected in the creep cavitation and fracture
behavior of the material.
Many relationships have been proposed and are available in
open literature for stress-rupture criteria under multiaxial state of
stress. In the present investigation, the approaches proposed by
Hayhurst et al. [11], Cane [12] and Nix et al. [7] as defined below
351
have been used and compared for their suitability for prediction of
representative stress for the steel under multiaxial state of stress.
Hayhurst [11]
σ rep ¼ ασ 1 þ ð1  αÞσ vm ð4Þ
Cane [12]
σ rep ¼ σ 1γ =m σ vm
ðm  γ Þ=m
ð5Þ
Nix [7]
σ rep ¼ 2:24σ 1  0:62ðσ 2 þ σ 3 Þ ð6Þ
where m, γ, and α are the material constants and σ1, σ2 and σ3 are
the maximum, the intermediate and the minimum principal
stresses respectively and σvm is the von-Mises stress. The repre-
sentative stress reduces to the maximum principal stress for γ ¼m
(α ¼1) and to the von-Mises stress for γ ¼0 (α ¼0). The model
proposed by Hayhurst et al. [11] relates the representative stress as
the algebraic sum of maximum principal stress and von-Mises
stress incorporating a material dependent parameter influencing
352 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360

Fig. 6. SEM micrographs of 9Cr–1Mo steel (a) mixed mode fracture observed in notched specimen. Fracture surface appearance at the (b) center of notch throat plane and
(c) notch root region and (d) creep cavitation in the notch root region for relative sharper notches (notch root radius of 0.5 mm) at 150 MPa and 873 K.

Fig. 7. The comparison of elastic–creep and elastic–plastic–creep behaviors of the Fig. 8. The comparison of stress relaxation at the notch root as a result of stress
steel in presence of notches of root radii 2.5 and 0.5 at 210 MPa. redistribution in the presence of notches of root radii of 2.5 and 0.5 mm at 210 MPa.

the contribution of each stress on multiaxial stress rupture criteria
(Eq. (4)). The model proposed by Cane [12] relates the representa-
tive stress as the multiplication of the maximum principal stress
and von-Mises stress incorporating a material dependent para-
meter influencing the contribution of each stress on multiaxial
stress rupture criteria (Eq. (5)). The model proposed by Nix et al.
considers principal facet stress as representative stress (Eq. (6)).
Since the stresses vary across the notch throat plane with creep
exposure and attain the stationary states, it is difficult to identify
the location in notch throat plane at which the stress should be
 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360
Fig. 9. The variation of von-Mises stress across the notch throat plane after
attaining the stationary state for different notch root radii at a net applied stress
of 210 MPa.
Fig. 10. Variation of normalized maximum principal stresses across the notch
throat plane for different values of stress exponents (notch root radius of 0.5 mm).
considered in defining the representative stress. Based on FE
analysis, concept of skeletal point has been introduced in deter-
mining the representative stress [8,18]. The skeletal point is the
location in notch throat plane for a given notch geometry, where
the variations of stationary state stress across the notch throat
plane for different stress exponents ‘n’ in Norton's law intersect.
The components of stresses estimated at this point have been
implemented to characterize the creep deformation, damage and
failure behavior of materials under multiaxial state of stress by
many investigators [9,18].
In order to obtain the skeletal point stresses, FE analysis of
stress distribution across the notch throat plane has been carried
out for various values of stress exponent ‘n’ (stress dependence of
creep rate) in Norton's law ðε_ s ¼ Aσ n Þ ranging from 1 to 10 for net
applied stress of 210 MPa. The value of coefficient A was obtained
based on the creep strain rate of 10  5 h  1. The value of n was
varied instead of A, due to the importance of n on the creep
deformation which redistributes the stresses across the notch
throat plane. The variations of maximum principal stress across
the notch throat plane for different values of stress exponent ‘n’ for
notch root radius of 0.5 mm are shown in Fig. 10. Similar results
were also obtained for other notch root radii. It was observed that
353
Fig. 11. Variation of skeletal point location as a function of notch acuity ratio.
Fig. 12. Variation of skeletal point stresses as a function of notch acuity ratio.
there exists a skeletal point at which stress variations for different
stress exponents intersect. Similar observations have been
reported by Webster et al. [18]. For a given notch geometry, the
radial position of skeletal point remained in a narrow band of
distance for all the stresses. The radial position of skeletal point
shifted from close to center towards the notch root and tends to
saturate for higher notch acuity ratio (Fig. 11).
Variation of skeletal point stresses with notch acuity ratio is
shown in Fig. 12. The maximum principal and hydrostatic stresses
at skeletal point increased with notch acuity ratio and tend to
saturate at higher notch acuity ratio; whereas von-Mises stress
decreased with increase in notch acuity ratio. The value of
maximum principal stress at the skeletal point was more than
the net applied stress. However, the von-Mises and hydrostatic
stresses at the skeletal point were lower than the net applied
stress for all notch acuity ratios. The stresses at the skeletal point
for a given notch acuity ratio and net applied stress can be
calculated by multiplying the normalized stresses (Fig. 12) with
the net applied stress.
The creep rupture data is plotted against the maximum
principal stress as representative stress for both smooth and
notched specimens for the steel in Fig. 13(a). As can be seen from
354 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360
Fig. 13. Presentation of smooth and notched specimen creep rupture data considering the (a) maximum principal stress and (b) von-Mises stress as representative stress.
Fig. 13(a), the experimental data for smooth and notched speci-
mens for the steel is not truly represented using maximum
principal stress as representative stress. The creep rupture data
is further plotted against the von-Mises stress as representative
stress for both smooth and notched specimens for the steel in
Fig. 13(b). The experimental data for smooth and notched speci-
mens for the steel could be represented reasonably well using
von-Mises stress as representative stress. This indicates that the
von-Mises stress dominates in the fracture behavior of this
material in multiaxial state of stress. In order to obtain the more
accurate way of representing the creep rupture data under multi-
axial state of stress, three different models viz. Cane, Hayhurst and
Nix are evaluated for the steel.
In order to determine the parameter (α) for the steel consider-
ing approach proposed by Hayhurst (Eq. (4)), regression analysis
was carried out for the representative stress (σrep) based on
skeletal point stresses for each notch geometry. The best fit value
of α with the highest correlation coefficient was found out to be
0.18 for the steel. The creep rupture life of the steel under
multiaxial state of stress is considered to be governed predomi-
nantly by von-Mises stress with only 18% maximum principal
stress for the steel. Representation of multiaxial creep data in
terms of representative stress as a function of rupture life for the
steel with optimized value of α is shown in Fig. 14(a). A high value
of correlation coefficient E 0.96 clearly indicates that multiaxial
creep rupture behavior of the material is well represented by the
Hayhurst model.
The parameter (γ) for the steel considers the approach pro-
posed by Cane (Eq. (5)); regression analysis was carried out for the
representative stress (σrep) based on skeletal point stresses for
each notch geometry. The optimized value of γ for 9Cr–1Mo steel
with the highest correlation coefficient was found to be 1.9. The
variation of representative stress as a function of creep life for the
steel with optimized value of γ is shown in Fig. 14(b). A high value
of correlation coefficient E 0.96 indicates that multiaxial creep
rupture behavior of the steel is well represented by the
Cane model.
The representative stress considering as principal facet stress
determined based on Nix approach has been plotted against the
rupture life in Fig. 14(c). The multiaxial creep rupture life of the
steel was not found to be represented well based on representa-
tive stress calculated considering the Nix model. The multiaxial
creep data was found not to superimpose with the uniaxial creep
data. The Nix model is particularly applicable for creep cavity
prone materials.
Both the models proposed by Hayhurst and Cane represented
the creep behavior of the investigated steel under multiaxial state
of stress well. However, the model proposed by Cane [12] would
be preferable in terms of the physical processes occurring in the
materials during creep exposure. Aplin et al. [10] commented that
the creep deformation and damage incurred by different compo-
nents of stresses in multiaxial state of stress under creep condition
are not independent to each other and hence cannot be repre-
sented as an algebraic sum of their contribution as considered in
the Hayhurst model. Based on this understanding, further analysis
of creep damage and rupture life prediction has been carried out
adopting the model proposed by Cane [12].
3.4. Creep damage and rupture life prediction based on FE analysis
coupled with CDM
FE analysis coupled with continuum damage mechanics (FE-
CDM) has been extensively used for creep damage and rupture life
prediction under multiaxial state of stress [5,13–15]. In this
investigation, the prediction of creep rupture life under uniaxial
and multiaxial creep conditions has also been carried out based on
FE analysis coupled with CDM. FE analysis of creep damage was
carried out using an ABAQUS finite element solver incorporating
the creep rate ðε_ c ij Þ equation (Eq. (7)) and the creep damage rate
ðω
_ Þ law (Eq. (8)) proposed by Kachanov [20] in VUMAT subroutine.
3  σ vm n  1 σ ij
0
ε_ cij ¼ A ð7Þ
2 1ω 1ω
χ
Bσ rep
ω_ ¼ ð8Þ
ð1  ωÞϕ
where A, n, B, χ, and ϕ are the material constants, ω is the damage,
σ 0ij is the deviatoric stress, σvm is the von-Mises stress, σrep is the
representative stress, ω _ is the damage rate and ε_ c ij is the creep
strain rate.
A user material subroutine VUMAT was written in FORTRAN
and implemented in the ABAQUS Explicit for calculating the
stresses, creep strains and damage in the notched specimens.
The coefficients required for the estimation of damage and rupture
 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360 355

Fig. 14. Presentation of multiaxial creep rupture data based on representative stress calculated based on the models proposed by (a) Hayhurst, (b) Cane and (c) Nix for
the steel.

Table 3 3.4.1. Damage evolution

Elastic, creep and damage constants of the steel at 873 K [21].
Material E (GPa) υ A n χ ϕ B
9Cr–1Mo steel 160 0.3 1.27  10–21 8.34 8.24 10.0
life were obtained from uniaxial creep data of the steel [21]. The
values of material constants used in the analysis are given in
Table 3.
VSPRINC utility subroutine was used for calculating the max-
imum principal stress at each integration point which was then
used for estimating representative stress along with von-Mises
stress. The equations for creep strain rate (Eq. 7) and damage rate
(Eq. 8) were solved and the increments were updated within the
VUMAT subroutine and passed on to main program. The critical
value of damage parameter was chosen as 0.5. As the damage
parameter increased beyond this value, the accelerated creep rate
led to severe distortion of the elements. The creep damage
accumulated in the specimen under multiaxial state of stress has
been calculated to estimate the creep rupture life.
In order to corroborate the fracture behavior under multiaxial
state of stress, analysis of damage evolution was carried out using
FE analysis incorporating creep damage constitutive equations.
2.076  10–21 The creep damage across the notch for relatively shallow notch
(notch root radius ¼2.5 mm) in 9Cr–1Mo steel for different creep
exposures is shown in Fig. 15. The damage was found to initiate at
the notch root due to the higher stresses that develop as a result of
stress concentration (Fig. 15(a)). However, the stress relaxation
takes place which results in shifting of damage towards the center
of notch (Fig. 15(b)). At the later stage of creep deformation, when
the damage increases, further redistribution of stress takes place
for maintaining the strain compatibility with the consequence of
more damage at center of the notch due to the dependency of
damage rate on current damage [13]. The shedding of load takes
place from center of the specimen to the less damaged notch root.
Finally, the critical damage (ω ¼0.5) reaches at the center of notch
resulting in cup and cone type fracture as observed experimentally
(Fig. 5(a)). The variation of different stresses as a function of creep
exposure considering damage for notch root radius of 2.5 mm is
shown in Fig. 16. The stresses were found to be maximum at the
notch root after elastic deformation. The stresses redistribute
as a result of different creep rates across the notch throat plane.
356 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360
Fig. 15. Damage evolution in relatively shallow notch of acuity ratio 2 with creep exposure (a) 3 h, (b) 45 h and (c) 189 h in 9Cr–1Mo steel at 150 MPa and 873 K.
The von-Mises stress was found to be uniform during the initial
creep deformation. The presence of relatively uniform von-Mises
stress across notch plane (Fig. 16(a)) is expected to produce more
or less uniform transgranular creep cavity nucleation across the
notch plane. Growth of the nucleated creep cavity is influenced by
the triaxial state of stress [22,23]. The hydrostatic stress plays a
significant role in cavity growth under constrained conditions
[24,25]. Presence of high maximum principal and hydrostatic
stress at the central region of notch throat plane (Fig. 16(b) and
(c)) would have caused preferential growth of the nucleated
cavities. Thus, even though, nucleation of creep cavities occurred
throughout the notch plane of shallow notch, the cavities at the
central region of notch plane would have grown faster. At some
critical strains, plastic deformation becomes localized at the
ligament between the cavities causing them to rupture by
mechanical instability. This results in cavities coalescence and
fracture follows. Fracture surface with dimple appearance (Fig. 5)
supports the view of above creep cavitation mechanism in the
relatively shallow notches.
Quite a different nature of accumulation of creep damage
behavior in relatively sharper notches was observed, resulting in
fracture appearance as shown in Fig. 6(a). The damage accumula-
tion with creep exposure for relatively sharper notch (notch root
radius ¼ 0.5 mm) of 9Cr–1Mo steel is shown in Fig. 17. The stress
redistribution across the notch throat plane led to the higher
stresses at the notch root region. Unlike in shallow notches, in
sharper notches the damage continues to accumulate at faster rate
at the notch root region and reaches to the critical value (Fig. 17)
leading to creep cavitation (Fig. 6(c)). The crack propagates from
the notch root region towards center resulting in fracture appear-
ance as depicted in Fig. 6(b).
The variation of different stresses as a function of creep exposure
for notch root radius of 0.5 mm is shown in Fig. 18. For relatively
sharper notches, von-Mises stress was found to be higher at the
notch root region (Fig. 18(a)). As the nucleation of intergranular
creep cavities is controlled by von-Mises stress through plastic
deformation, nucleation of creep cavities is expected to be more
in the notch root region. High principal stress along with high
 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360
Fig. 16. Variations of (a) von-Mises, (b) maximum principal and (c) hydrostatic stresses across the notch throat plane as a function of creep exposure for the notch root radius
of 2.5 mm.
hydrostatic stress (Fig. 18(b) and (c)) would have led to the growth
of the nucleated cavities at the near notch root region (Fig. 6(d)).
The cavity growth by principal stress occurs by diffusive transfer
of material from cavity surface to the grain boundary [26]. The
fracture surface appearance is expected to be intergranular as
observed in Fig. 6(c). Coalescence of the creep cavities would
have led to the propagation of crack from the notch root region
towards the central region of the notch plane. Final failure of the
ligament at the central region of notch plane would have occurred
due to mechanical instability, resulting in ductile dimple fracture
appearance (Fig. 6(b)).
3.4.2. Creep rupture life prediction
The creep rupture life of the steel under multiaxial state of
stress has been predicted based on the representative stress
associated with creep damage (Eq. (5)) using FE analysis coupled
with creep damage mechanics. The representative stress was
calculated within the VUMAT subroutine at each integration point
during increment by using von-Mises stress and maximum prin-
cipal stress. The creep rupture life of the steel predicted based on
the continuum damage mechanics coupled with FE analysis was
found to be in good agreement with the experiments within
357
a factor of 3 as shown in Fig. 19. The creep damage analysis
carried out by Hayhurst et al. [27] considering the damage
originated due to (i) softening due to multiplication of mobile
dislocations, (ii) softening due void nucleation and growth and
(iii) softening due to continuum cavity growth, could estimate the
creep rupture life under multiaxial state of stress within a factor of
2.4 in Nimonic 80 alloy. Yatomi et al. [14] carried out FE analysis
using the strain based damage mechanics approach for notched
specimens considering primary–secondary and primary–second-
ary–tertiary stages of creep deformation. They reported that the
primary–secondary–tertiary analysis resulted in conservative
results than that of primary–secondary analysis. In relatively
microstructurally stable nickel-based and titanium-based super-
alloys, Hyde et al. [13] could predict the creep rupture life of
notched specimens within an error band of 20%.
The prediction of creep rupture life was more accurate at lower
creep life for relatively shallow notches than those in the relatively
sharper notches for longer creep life. Several factors can influence
the prediction of rupture life for lower creep exposure (sharper
notches). Ashby and Dyson [28] and Dyson [29] developed the
microstructure based constitutive equations for creep damage in
the ferritic steels. Microstructure of tempered bainitic/martensite
ferritic steels is complex and thermodynamically unstable during
358 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360

Fig. 17. Damage evolution in relatively sharper notch of acuity ratio 10 with creep exposure of (a) 4 h, (b) 100 h and (c) 584 h in 9Cr–1Mo steel at 150 MPa and 873 K.

creep exposure. The microstructural features which contribute to
the damage in the ferritic–martensitic steels under creep condi-
tions are (i) strain-induced coarsening of subgrains and decrease
in the density of mobile dislocations and (ii) the coarsening of
precipitate particles. Oruganti et al. [30] and Christopher et al. [31]
successfully implemented the constitutive equations and esti-
mated the creep life under uniaxial state of stress for 9Cr-steels.
However, the mechanisms dependent on state of stress would be
affected in presence of notch and would result in scatter in
prediction under multiaxial state of stress. Microstructural degra-
dation under multiaxial state of stress is manifested in the
reduction of hardness of the steel on creep exposure. The micro-
hardness measurements taken on un-failed notch of root radius
0.25 mm and creep tested at 110 MPa is shown in Fig. 20. The
decrease in hardness at the notch root compared to the center of
notch indicates that the extent of damage was more at the notch
root as observed experimentally (Fig. 6) and through FE-CDM
(Fig. 17).
In the present investigation, the predictions of creep rupture
life are based on the skeletal point concept. However, in reality, the
stresses vary significantly across the notch throat plane. This
would lead to slight inaccuracy in prediction of rupture life of
steel under multiaxial state of stress. In addition to that, the
damage has been considered in the form of creep cavitation.
However, if other damage mechanisms like strain induced micro-
structural damage, decrease in mobile dislocation density and
 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360 359

Fig. 18. Variations of (a) von-Mises, (b) maximum principal and (c) hydrostatic stresses across the notch throat plane as a function of creep exposure for the notch root radius
of 0.5 mm.

Fig. 19. Prediction of creep rupture life of notched specimens at various applied Fig. 20. Variation of hardness across the notch throat plane for notch of root radius
stresses and notch acuity ratios at 873 K for the steel. 0.25 creep tested at 110 MPa and 873 K.
360 S. Goyal, K. Laha / Materials Science & Engineering A 615 (2014) 348–360
particle coarsening associated with damage in ferritic steels are
included, predictions would have been better.
4. Conclusions
Based on the creep rupture behavior studies of 9Cr–1Mo steel
notched specimen at 873 K over a stress range of 110–210 MPa and
FE analysis of creep deformation, damage and life prediction,
following conclusions have been drawn.
1. Presence of notch increased the creep rupture strength of the
steel. With increase in notch sharpness (notch acuity ratio),
creep rupture strength of the steel increased and tends to
saturate for sharper notches.
2. Fractographic observations revealed plasticity induced intra-
granular ductile failure with dimple appearance for relatively
shallow notches and higher net applied stresses and mixed
mode fracture comprising of creep cavitation induced inter-
granular brittle and ductile failure for relatively sharper
notches and lower net applied stresses.
3. The model proposed by Cane represented the experimental
multiaxial creep data with uniaxial creep data well for the steel.
The skeletal point concept was adopted for estimating the
representative stress in notched specimens.
4. The FE analysis coupled with continuum damage mechanics
under multiaxial loading was found to predict the rupture lives
of the steel within a factor of 3.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Dr. P.R. Vasudeva Rao, Director,
Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) and
Dr. T. Jayakumar, Director, Metallurgy and Materials Group, IGCAR,
for their constant encouragement and support. The authors are
also thankful to Dr. A.K. Bhaduri, Associate Director, Materials
Development and Technology Group, IGCAR, for his keen interest
in this work. The authors acknowledge the help rendered by Dr. C.
R. Das in carrying out SEM investigation.
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