Creep-testing machine

A creep-testing machine measures the Creep (the tendency of a

material after being subjected to high levels of stress, e.g. high
temperatures, to change its form in relation to time) of an object.
It is a device that measures the alteration of a material after it
has been put through different forms of stress. Creep machines
are important to see how much strain (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.
Background
The first creep testing machines were created in 1948 in Britain to
test materials for aircraft to see how they would stand in high
altitudes, temperature and pressure. The machines were first
developed to further calculate and understand the steady rate of
creep in materials. Creep is the tendency of a material to change
form over time after facing high temperature and stress. Creep
increases with temperature and it is more common when a
material is exposed to high temperatures for a long time or at the
melting point of the material. Creep machines are used to
understand the creep of materials and determine which type can
do the job better, which is important when making and designing
materials for everyday uses. They most commonly test the creep
of alloys and plastics for the understanding of their properties and
advantages of one material's use over another.
Design
Researchers look to test objects with a creep machine to
understand the process of metallurgy and the physical
mechanical properties of a metal, test the development of alloys,

receive data from the loads that are derived and to find out
whether a sample or material is within the boundary of what they
are testing.[1] The basic design of a creep machine is the furnace,
loading device and support structure.
The main type of creep testing machine that is most commonly
used is a constant load creep testing machine.The constant load
creep machine consists of a loading platform, foundation, fixture
devices and furnace. The fixture devices are the grips and pull
rods.[3]

Load platform or sometimes called load hanger is where the

object will endure pressure at a constant rate. [4]

Grips are used to hold the material you are testing in a

certain position. Position is important because if the alignment
is off, the machine will deliver inaccurate readings of the creep
of the material.[4]

Dial Gauge is used to measure the strain. It is the object that

captures the movement of the object in the machine. The load
beam transfers the movement from the grip to the dial gauge.
[4]

Heating Chamber is what surrounds the object and maintain

the temperature that the object is subjected to. [4]

Applications
Creep machines are most commonly used in experiments to
determine how efficient and stable a material is. The machine is
used by students and companies to create a creep curve on how
much pressure and stress a material can handle. The machine is
able to calculate the stress rate, time and pressure. [4]
Creep testing has three different applications in the industry:

1. Displacement-Limited applications: the size must be precise

and there must be little errors or tendency to change. This is
most commonly found in turbine rotors in jet engines.
2. Rupture Limited applications: in this application the break
cannot occur to the material but there can be various
dimensions as the material goes through creep. High
pressure tubes are examples of them.
3. Stress relaxation limited application: the tension at the
beginning becomes more relaxed and the tension will
continue to relax as the time goes by, such as cable wires
and bolts.[5]
Graphing 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[4] 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.
Stages of Creep
There are three stages of creep:

Primary Creep: the initial creep stage where the slope is

rising rapidly at first in a short amount of time. After a certain
amount of time has elapsed, the slope will begin to slowly
decrease from its initial rise.

Steady State Creep: the creep rate is constant so the line on

the curve shows a straight line that is a steady rate.

Tertiary Creep: the last stage of creep when the object that is
being subjected to pressure is going to reach its breaking point.
In this stage, the object's creep continuously increases until the

object breaks. The slope of this stage is very steep for most
materials.
By examining the three stages above, scientists 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. [6]
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. This is a
disadvantage to scientists and engineers when trying to
determine the level of creep the object can handle. [7]