Constitutive modelling of creep of metallic materials: Some simple recipes

An approach to modelling dislocation glide controlled creep is presented. It is based on the evolution of dislocation density treated as an internal variable. The general constitutive modelling frame permits inclusion of microstructural features, such as grain size, volume fraction and size of second-phase particles, lamellae spacing in lamellar materials, etc. Examples of modelling creep in single-phase and particle reinforced metallic materials are given. In the latter case, in situ evolution of particle population is also considered. Finally, in addition to average quantities, effects of particle arrangement on the creep deformation is discussed. A simple and transparent architecture of the models presented makes them to easy-to-use creep modelling tools. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.