1.

Introduction

So far we have studied mechanical properties of metals at room temperature and we assumed
rightly so that they are independent of time. If we apply constant elastic stress on a metal
specimen at room temperature, the elastic deformation is calculated as;
e= /
Where E is the elastic modulus, is the applied stress, and e is the elastic stress. Since the
elastic modulus is constant, the elastic strain is a function only of the stress. If we repeat the
same test for a metal at a high temperature the metal will immediately deform elastically and
then continue to deform at a constant slow rate for a period of time before it increases rapidly
until fracture. The time dependent deformation under constant load at high temperatures is called
creep and the resulting strain is a function of the applied stress, temperature, and time. The
temperature at which a material starts to creep depends on its melting point. It is found that creep
in metals starts when the temperature is > 0.3 to 0.4 T m (the melting temperature in Kelvin).
Most metals have high melting points and hence they start to creep only at temperatures much
above room temperature. This is the reason why creep is less familiar phenomena than elastic or
plastic deformation.
1.1

Ceramic Material

Ceramic materials are inorganic, non-metallic materials made from compounds of a metal and a
non-metal. Ceramic materials may be crystalline or partly crystalline. They are formed by the
action of heat and subsequent cooling. Clay was one of the earliest materials used to
produce ceramics, as pottery, but many different ceramic materials are now used in domestic,
industrial and building products. Ceramic materials tend to be strong, stiff, brittle, chemically
inert, and non-conductors of heat and electricity, but their properties vary widely.
1.2

Type of Ceramic Material

A ceramic material may be defined as any inorganic crystalline material, compounded of a metal
and a non-metal. It is solid and inert. Ceramic materials are brittle, hard, and strong in
compression, weak in shearing and tension. They withstand chemical erosion that occurs in an
1

acidic or caustic environment. In many cases withstanding erosion from the acid and bases
applied to it. Ceramics generally can withstand very high temperatures such as temperatures that
range from 1,000 C to 1,600 C. Exceptions include inorganic materials that do not have oxygen
such as silicon carbide. Glass by definition is not a ceramic because it is an amorphous solid or
non-crystalline. However, glass involves several steps of the ceramic process and its mechanical
properties behave similarly to ceramic materials.
1.2.1

Crystalline Ceramic

Crystalline ceramic materials are not amenable to a great range of processing. Methods for
dealing with them tend to fall into one of two categories either to makes the ceramic in the
desired shape, by reaction in situ or by "forming" powders into the desired shape, and
then sintering to form a solid body. Ceramic forming techniques include shaping by hand known
as throwing, slip casting, tape casting, injection molding, dry pressing, and other variations.
1.2.2

Non-Crystalline Ceramic

Non-crystalline ceramics are being glasses and tend to be formed from melts. The glass is shaped
when either fully molten, by casting, or when in a state of toffee-like viscosity, by methods such
as blowing to a mold. If later heat-treatments cause this glass to become partly crystalline, the
resulting material is known as a glass-ceramic.
1.3

Properties of Ceramic

The physical properties of any ceramic substance are a direct result of its crystalline structure
and chemical composition. Solid state chemistry reveals the fundamental connection between
microstructure and properties such as localized density variations, grain size distribution, type of
porosity and second-phase content, which can all be correlated with ceramic properties such as
mechanical stress strength by the Hall-Petch equation, hardness, toughness, dielectric constant,
and the optical properties exhibited by transparent materials.
Physical properties of chemical compounds which provide evidence of chemical composition
include odor, color, volume, density, melting point, boiling point, heat capacity, physical form at
room temperature, hardness, porosity, and index of refraction.

1.3.1

Mechanical Properties

Ceramic materials are usually ionic or covalent bonded materials, and can be crystalline or
amorphous. A material held together by either type of bond will tend to fracture before
any plastic deformation takes place, which results in poor toughness in these materials.
Additionally, because these materials tend to be porous, the pores and other microscopic
imperfections act as stress concentrators, decreasing the toughness further, and reducing
the tensile strength. These combine to give catastrophic failures, as opposed to the normally
much more gentle failure modes of metals.
These materials do show plastic deformation. However, due to the rigid structure of the
crystalline materials, there are very few available slip systems for dislocations to move, and so
they deform very slowly. With the non-crystalline (glassy) materials, viscous flow is the
dominant source of plastic deformation, and is also very slow. It is therefore neglected in many
applications of ceramic materials.
1.3.2

Electrical Properties

Some ceramics are semiconductors. Most of these are transition metal oxides that are II-VI
semiconductors, such as zinc oxide. While there are prospects of mass-producing
blue LEDs from zinc oxide, ceramicists are most interested in the electrical properties that
show grain boundary effects. The best demonstration of their ability can be found in electrical
substations, where they are employed to protect the infrastructure from lightning strikes. They
have rapid response, are low maintenance, and do not appreciably degrade from use, making
them virtually ideal devices for this application.
Under some conditions, such as extremely low temperature, some ceramics exhibit high
temperature superconductivity. The exact reason for this is not known, but there are two major
families of superconducting ceramics.
1.3.3

Optical Properties

Optically transparent materials focus on the response of a material to incoming light waves of a
range of wavelengths. Frequency selective optical filters can be utilized to alter or enhance the
brightness and contrast of a digital image. Guided light wave transmission via frequency
selective waveguides involves the emerging field of fiber optics and the ability of certain glassy
compositions as a transmission medium for a range of frequencies simultaneously with little or
no interference between competing wavelengths or frequencies.
This resonant mode of energy and data transmission via electromagnetic wave propagation,
though low powered, is virtually lossless. Optical waveguides are used as components
in integrated optical circuits or as the transmission medium in local and long haul optical
communication systems. Also of value to the emerging materials scientist is the sensitivity of
materials to radiation in the thermal infrared (IR) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. This
heat-seeking ability is responsible for such diverse optical phenomena as Night-vision and
IR luminescence.
2.0

Introduction to Creep

Creep is the permanent elongation of a component under a static load maintained for a period of
time. This phenomenon occurs in metals and certain nonmetallic materials, such as
thermoplastics, rubbers and ceramic, and it can occur at any temperature. Advanced engineering
ceramics have a number of material properties that have made them one of the most important
classes of engineering materials. Ceramics have an extremely high elastic modulus, maintain
consistent performance at elevated temperatures, and have great resistance to wear and corrosion,
which has contributed to their widespread use as bearing surfaces, heat resistance, and insulation
applications. The ability for ceramics to perform at high temperature has made them the go to
material for high end automobile brake rotors and pads, space re-entry vehicle heat shields, and
ball bearings in high speed and high temperature applications. The use of fiber reinforcement
with a ceramic matrix provides an increase in tensile strength and fracture resistance, making
ceramics a viable material for structural applications. The system shown is designed to produce
controlled temperatures to 3100F and the ability to perform creep and modulus of rupture tests
on ceramic materials.

2.1

Creep Testing

Creep testing aims to investigate plastic deformation of a material when subjected to a constant
load or stress at a high temperature. High temperature allows metal to deform more easily since
atoms can move more readily. Generally, metals creep at a temperature above approximately 0.4
Tm (Tm is the absolute temperature of the metal). Therefore, low melting point metals will creep
at lower temperature in comparison to high melting point metals. Hence, greater movement of
dislocations or slips can happen. New slip systems and grain-boundary movement are also
possible at higher temperatures. Therefore, engineering alloys utilized at high temperatures is
susceptible to creep as well as recrystallization and grain coarsening. In the case of age-hardened
metals, over-ageing is feasible, which results in reduced hardness and strength due to the
coarsening of the second phase precipitates.
2.2

Creep-Testing Machine

A creep-testing machine measures the tendency of a material after being subjected to high levels
of stress such as high temperatures, to change its form in relation to time or known as creep of an
object. It is a device that measures the alteration of a material after it has been put through
different forms of stress.

Figure 1.0: Creep testing configuration showing specimen fitted in the testing machine coupled
with a high temperature furnace.
Creep machines are important to see how much strain or load an object can handle under
pressure, so engineers and researchers are able to determine what materials to use. The device
generates a creep time-dependent curve by calculating the steady rate of creep in reference to the
time it takes for the material to change. Creep machines are primarily used by engineers to
determine the stability of a material and its behavior when it is put through ordinary stresses.
2.3

Standard of Creep Testing used

The ASTM and ISO have developed standard test methods to aid in the proper testing of the
wide variety ceramic materials. These tests address the various applications of ceramic materials
and environments in which they will be used. Popular standards for testing ceramic materials at
high temperatures are:

ASTM C1291 for tensile creep of monolithic ceramics

ASTM C1337 for tensile creep of continuous fiber reinforced ceramics

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ASTM C1359 for rectangular shaped continuous fiber reinforced ceramics

ASTM C1366 for monolithic ceramics

ISO 22215 for tensile creep of monolithic and particulate reinforced ceramics.

2.4

2.5

Creep Testing Material

Creep specimens made from ceramic

Micrometer or vernia caliper

Permanent pen

Creep Testing Machine

Hot and cold bags

Thermometer

Creep Testing Procedure

1. Remove any load from the arm of creep machine.
2. Measure and record the specimen dimensions for the calculation of stress and strain from
the creep test.
3. Fit a specimen on a creep test machine as shown in Figure 2.1 with a dial gauge
positioned in a mid-range of the specimen gauge length for the calculation of specimen
extension.
4. Hung the weights of known values at the end of the sample to determine the applied
stress. Specimen extension will be read on the dial gauge and time is recorded using
stopped watch.

5. Repeat the tests at the same load used above but at different temperature
2.6

Stage of Creep

Creep is dependent on time so the curve that the machine generates is a time vs. strain graph. The
slope of a creep curve is the creep rate d/dt. The trend of the curve is an upward slope. The
graphs are important to learn the trends of the alloys or materials used and by the production of
the creep-time graph; it is easier to determine the better material for a specific application.

Figure 2.0: Schematic illustration of a typical creep curve.

From the graph in Figure 2.0, we are able to determine the temperature and interval in which an
object will be disturbed once exposed to the load. Some materials have a very small secondary
creep state and may go straight from the primary creep to the tertiary creep state. This is
dependent on the properties of the material that is being test on. This is important to note because
going straight to the tertiary state causes the material to break faster from its form.
Nevertheless, each metal creeps at different rate and thus require different time to finish the test,
ranging from minutes, hours, days, weeks or months. According to the typical creep curve in
figure 2.0, it should be noticed that the creep curve can be divided into three main stages;
primary, secondary and tertiary creeps. Each stage of creep behavior is influenced from both
work hardening and annealing mechanisms occurring at the same time. However, work
hardening and annealing will take place at different rates depending on response of metals to
8

applied tensile force with time. The creep rate therefore changes accordingly. There are three
stages of creep:
1.

Primary Creep:
The primary creep or transient creep exhibits a decreasing creep rate with time as shown
in figure 2.0. A very sharp increase in the initial stage is observed with the original strain,

o, taking place before the creep rate starts to decrease. The creep rate then
until reaching the secondary creep region as detailed in figure 2.0. This
in the primary creep region accounts from work hardening mechanism
Multiplication and interaction of dislocations rule out the

annealing

diminishes
diminished creep rate
of

effect

the
at

this

metal.
stage,

resulting in increasing the creep resistance of the metal.

2.

Secondary Creep/Steady State Creep:

Beyond the primary stage, the creep rate is reaching a steady state where the creep rate is
said to be relatively constant with time and gives the minimum creep rate of all the three
regions. This minimum creep rate is used to represent the creep rate of the metal being
tested at particular test temperature and load. The constant creep rate is due to balancing
of strain hardening and annealing (recovery) processes according to the applied stress and
temperature. The amount of dislocations being generated by work hardening is equal to
the number of dislocations being annealed out.

3.

Tertiary Creep:
The tertiary creep region gives a rapid creep rate approaching failure. This is due to the
formation of necking. Load bearing capability decreases due to the simultaneous
reduction in the cross-sectional area of the specimen, which is related to local stress
acting on this area. Furthermore, tertiary creep is associated with microstructural
alterations due to increasing temperature such as coarsening of precipitate phases,
recrystallization and diffusion of phases. These mechanisms effectively increase the
tertiary creep rate, and eventually lead to fracture under creep.

Figure 3.0: Effects of stress levels on the shape of creep curves at constant temperature.
However, factors influencing the shape of the creep curve depend on the levels of the stress and
temperatures involved. If the temperature is remained constant, the creep curves will shift
upward and to the left with increasing applied stresses as shown in figure 3.0. Similarly, if the
creep test is carried out at various temperatures but at a constant stress level, the creep rate will
increase with increasing temperatures. A linear graph denotes that the material under stress is
gradually deforming and this would be harder to track at what level of stress an object can
handle. This would also mean that the material would not have distinct stages, which would
make object's breaking point would be less predictable.
3.0

Conclusion

As conclusion, the creep test has the objective of precisely measuring the rate at which secondary
or steady state creep occurs. Increasing the stress or temperature has the effect of increasing the
slope of the line if the amount of deformation in a given time increases. The results are presented
as the amount of strain (deformation), generally expressed as a percentage, produced by applying
a specified load for a specified time and temperature. From the creep testing, the designer can
10

calculate how the component will change in shape during service and hence to specify its design
creep life.
4.0

References

4.1

Book
1. Kingery, W. D. (1960). Introduction to ceramics.
2. Callister, W. D., & Rethwisch, D. G. (2007). Materials science and engineering: an
introduction (Vol. 7, pp. 665-715). New York: Wiley.
3. Cannon, W. R., & Langdon, T. G. (1983). Creep of ceramics. Journal of Materials
Science, 18(1), 1-50.
4. Carroll, D. F., & Wiederhorn, S. M. (1989). Creep testing of ceramics. In A Collection of
Papers Presented at the 13th Annual Conference on Composites and Advanced Ceramic
Materials, Part 2 of 2: Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings, Volume 10, Issue
9/10 (pp. 1244-1244). John Wiley & Sons, Inc..

4.2

Website
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creep_(deformation)
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceramic_materials
3. http://ceramics.org/learn-about-ceramics/structure-and-properties-of-ceramics
4. http://www.testresources.net/application/modulus-of-rupture-and-creep-test-equipmentfor-ceramics-at-1700c-3100f

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