Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Initial Plasticity in P91 Steel Small Punch Creep Samples.

To date, the complex behaviour of small punch creep test (SPCT) specimens has not been completely understood, making the test hard to numerically model and the data difficult to interpret. This paper presents a novel numerical model able to generate results that match the experimental findings. For the first time, pre-strained uniaxial creep test data of a P91 steel at 600 C have been implemented in a conveniently modified Liu and Murakami creep damage model in order to simulate the effects of the initial localised plasticity on the subsequent creep response of a small punch creep test specimen.