Abstract
Application of in-situ microtomography to characterization of power law creep and creep damage in structural materials is presented. It is shown first that the successively reconstructed volumes are adequately monitoring the macroscopic sample shape and that microtomography is an optimal tool to characterize inhomogeneous specimen deformation. Based on a two-step image correlation technique the evolution of single voids is revealed and the basis of a pioneering approach to creep damage studies is presented. The method allows the unequivocal separation of three concurrent damage mechanisms: nucleation, growth, and coalescence of voids. The results indicate that growth rate of voids with equivalent diameters in the range of 2–5 mm is of about one order of magnitude higher than the prediction of continuum solid mechanics. Analysis of void coalescence points out the presence of two stable growth regimes related to coalescence between primary and secondary voids, respectively.
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