Creep FEA Best Practices
Best practices for creep FEA — thermal-structural coupling, time stepping, convergence, material model selection and result interpretation.
Key practices
- Always run an initial static step before creep to establish the initial stress state
- Use temperature-dependent material properties
- Use a creep model calibrated at the relevant temperatures and stresses
- Choose time increments small enough that creep strain per increment is moderate
- Monitor convergence at every step — do not accept non-converged results
- Check creep strain monotonicity — creep strain should not decrease
- Verify with a single-element test before running the full model
- Assess mesh sensitivity in regions of high creep strain gradient