On the accuracy of creep-damage predictions in thinwalled structures using the finite element method

Abstract

The constitutive model with a single damage parameter describing creep-damage behaviour of metals with respect to the different sensitivity of the damage process due to tension and compression is incorporated into the ANSYS finite element code by modifying the user defined creep material subroutine. The procedure is verified by comparison with solutions for beams and rectangular plates in bending based on the Ritz method. Various numerical tests show the sensitivity of long-term predictions to the mesh sizes and element types available for the creep analysis of thinwalled structures.