Crack-enhanced creep in polycrystalline material: strain-rate sensitive strength and deformation of ice

A non-linear viscoelastic creep equation for polycrystalline material is presented. It incorporates the effect of cracking and is capable of describing primary, secondary and tertiary behaviour. The model predicts the formation of microcracks and thus the damage state due to the high-temperature grain-boundary embrittlement process. This paper describes its application in formulating crack-enhanced creep and material response under constant strain-rate loading conditions (theoretically the simplest case but actually the most difficult to maintain). The formulation makes it possible to define the rate effect on stress-strain response and the rate sensitivity of strength, failure time, failure strain, damage and damage rate, strain recovery, etc. Numerical correspondence between theory and experiment was observed when predictions were compared with available closed-loop, controlled, constant strain-rate strength and deformation data on pure ice. Calculations made use of material constants determined from independent constant-load creep tests.