Creep strength
The creep strength ( ) is a term from materials science and describes the mechanical stress that leads to breakage in a ( metallic ) material after a certain period of exposure and at a constant temperature above the transition temperature .
The creep rupture strength is determined by means of creep rupture tests and is specified for the stress values stress time and stress temperature. For example, = 100 MPa means: in a creep test, the test specimen has withstood the constant load of 100 MPa for 10,000 hours at a constant temperature of 600 ° C before it broke.
Above the transition temperature (approx. 30% of the melting temperature in Kelvin ), all structural processes in the material are thermally activated, which is associated with material damage and thus also with a reduction in strength values (see also creep ). This material damage can be very critical for components that are used at high temperatures, as it reduces the component service life . Therefore, reliable characteristic values of the creep rupture strength for the materials used are indispensable for the design and monitoring of high-temperature components.