DAMAGE LOCALIZATION OF CONVENTIONAL CREEP DAMAGE MODELS AND PROPOSITION OF A NEW MODEL FOR CREEP DAMAGE ANALYSIS

After examining the ill-natured stress sensitivity of the conventional creep damage equations of Kachanov-Rabotnov, it was shown that this s tress sensitivity is one of the most essential causes of damage locali zation and mesh-dependence in local approach of creep fracture analyse s. Then, in order to avoid this difficulty, alternative constitutive a nd evolution equations of creep and creep-damage are proposed from the view point of micromechanics. Finally, the proposed equations of cree p and creep-damage are applied to the creep crack growth analysis of a perforated plate under tension. Significant improvement in damage loc alization and the mesh-dependence of the numerical results are ascerta ined.