A Continuum Damage Mechanics-Based Viscoplastic Model of Adapted Complexity for High-Temperature Creep–Fatigue Loading

Abstract

A continuum damage mechanics (CDM) based viscoplastic constitutive model is established in this study to describe the fully coupling of creep and fatigue behavior. The most significant improvement is the introduction of a continuum damage variable into the constitutive equations, instead of considering creep damage and fatigue damage separately. The CDM-based viscoplastic constitutive material model is implemented using a user-defined subroutine (UMAT). A standard specimen is used for carrying out uniaxial creep, fatigue, and creep–fatigue interaction tests to validate the material model. In addition, to further demonstrate the capability of the material model to predict the complex material behavior, a complex strain-control loading test is performed to validate the material model. The simulated and measured results are in good agreement at different temperatures and loadings, in particular for rapid cyclic softening behavior following crack initiation and propagation.