Creep with Low Stress Exponents

Abstract Primary creep models predict that at low stresses a stress exponent of 1 can be obtained for dislocation creep. Also experimentally this has been observed for an austenitic stainless steel. The time dependence of the primary creep verifies that it is dislocation creep. An other example is for Al at very high temperatures (Harper-Dorn creep), where at sufficiently low stresses, the stress exponent approaches 1. For both materials higher stresses give larger stress exponents as expected for dislocation creep. Obviously, diffusion and dislocation creep can be competing processes. The validity of creep models at low stresses and high temperatures as well as at high stresses and low temperatures demonstrates their wide range of usage. Since this in reality represents an extensive extrapolation, it can be consider as a direct verification of the basic creep models. In cases for Cu and stainless steels, the predicted creep rate by diffusion creep (Coble) exceeds the observed creep rate as well as the predicted one by dislocation creep by an order of magnitude. The likely explanation is that constrained boundary creep is taken place, i.e. the grain boundary creep rate cannot be essentially faster than that of the bulk.