Unified creep/plasticity constitutive equations are provided for 2-1/4 Cr-1 Mo steel in a post-weld heat-treated condition. These equations are recommended for trial use in inelastic design analyses for breeder reactor components at high temperature. The range of applicability of the equations is approximately 250 to 600°C in temperature and strain rates not in excess of about 0.04/min. The model is multiaxial and nonisothermal and accounts for both rate-dependent plasticity and creep. The results of several calculations based on the unified equations are included to provide a test of the correct implementation of the model and to demonstrate the predictive capability of the model. Also, a discussion is included regarding general properties of solutions to structural problems when employing the unified equations.

This textbook gives a concise survey of constitutive and structural modeling for high temperature creep, damage, low – cycle fatigue and other inelastic conditions. The book shows the creep and continuum damage mechanics as rapidly developing discipline which interlinks the material science foundations, the constitutive modeling and computer simulation application to analysis and design of simple engineering components. It is addressed to young researchers and scientists working in the field of mechanics of inelastic, time-dependent materials and structures, as well as to PhD students in computational mechanics, material sciences, mechanical and civil engineering.

Constitutive equations refer to 'the equations that constitute the material response' at any point within an object. They are one of the ingredients necessary to predict the deformation and fracture response of solid bodies (among other ingredients such as the equations of equilibrium and compatibility and mathematical descriptions of the configuration and loading history). These ingredients are generally combined together in complicated computer programs, such as finite element analyses, which serve to both codify the pertinent knowledge and to provide convenient tools for making predictions of peak stresses, plastic strain ranges, crack growth rates, and other quantities of interest. Such predictions fall largely into two classes: structural analysis and manufacturing analysis. In the first category, the usual purpose is life prediction, for assessment of safety, reliability, durability, and/or operational strategies. Some high-technology systems limited by mechanical behavior, and therefore requiring accurate life assess ments, include rocket engines (the space-shuttle main engine being a prominent example), piping and pressure vessels in nuclear and non-nuclear power plants (for example, heat exchanger tubes in solar central receivers and reformer tubes in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors used for process heat applications), and the ubiquitous example of the jet engine turbine blade. In structural analysis, one is sometimes concerned with predicting distortion per se, but more often, one is concerned with predicting fracture; in these cases the informa tion about deformation is an intermediate result en route to the final goal of a life prediction.

Using a totally new approach, this groundbreaking book establishesthe logical connections between metallurgy, materials modeling, andnumerical applications. In recognition of the fact that classicalmethods are inadequate when time effects are present, or whencertain types of multiaxial loads are applied, the new, physicallybased state variable method has evolved to meet these needs.Inelastic Deformation of Metals is the first comprehensivepresentation of this new technology in book form. It developsphysically based, numerically efficient, and accurate methods forpredicting the inelastic response of metals under a variety ofloading and environmental conditions. More specifically, Inelastic Deformation of Metals: * Demonstrates how to use the metallurgical information to developmaterial models for structural simulations and low cyclic fatiguepredictions. It presents the key features of classical and statevariable modeling, describes the different types of models andtheir attributes, and provides methods for developing models forspecial situations. This book's innovative approach covers such newtopics as multiaxial loading, thermomechanical loading, and singlecrystal superalloys. * Provides comparisons between data and theory to help the readermake meaningful judgments about the value and accuracy of aparticular model and to instill an understanding of how metalsrespond in real service environments. * Analyzes the numerical methods associated with nonlinearconstitutive modeling, including time independent, time dependentnumerical procedures, time integration schemes, inversiontechniques, and sub-incrementing. Inelastic Deformation of Metals is designed to give theprofessional engineer and advanced student new and expandedknowledge of metals and modeling that will lead to more accuratejudgments and more efficient designs. In contrast to existing plasticity books, which discuss few if anycorrelations between data and models, this breakthrough volumeshows engineers and advanced students how materials and modelsactually do behave in real service environments. As greater demandsare placed on technology, the need for more meaningful judgmentsand more efficient designs increases dramatically. Incorporatingthe state variable approach, Inelastic Deformation of Metals: * Provides an overview of a wide variety of metal responsecharacteristics for rate dependent and rate independent loadingconditions * Shows the correlations between the mechanical response propertiesand the deformation mechanisms, and describes how to use thisinformation in constitutive modeling * Presents different modeling options and discusses the usefulnessand limitations of each modeling approach, with material parametersfor each model * Offers numerous examples of material response and correlationwith model predictions for many alloys * Shows how to implement nonlinear material models in stand-aloneconstitutive model codes and finite element codes An innovative, comprehensive, and essential book, InelasticDeformation of Metals will help practicing engineers and advancedstudents in mechanical, aerospace, civil, and metallurgicalengineering increase their professional skills in the moderntechnological environment.