Difference in the creep and creep crack growth behaviour between creep ductile and brittle materials

By relating the creep crack growth versus time curve to the creep displacem ent curve, different characteristics have been observed between creep-ducti le and creep-brittle materials in a precracked or a notched specimen. In th e present paper, an attempt has been made to further clarify these differen ces by including the microstructural mechanism, the damage mechanics and co ntinuum mechanical analysis. Based on the results, new ideas have been prop osed for explaining the difference between the behaviour of creep-ductile a nd creep-brittle materials in a precracked or a notched specimen. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.