A description of cyclic creep under conditions of axial cyclic and mean stresses

During low cycle fatigue, cyclic strain induced creep can occur. The aim of this work was to investigate cyclic creep in copper specimens subjected to push–pull loading conditions. Creep strains were correlated in terms of the difference between hysteresis loop energies between tensile and compressive phases of the cycle. This observation together with the tendency of hysteresis loops to be symmetrical about the mean stress axis under steady conditions was used to formulate empirical relationships for cyclic creep in terms of imposed stress amplitude and mean stress.