Assessment of the reference stress method for combined tensile bending and thermal loading

The reference stress method has been investigated for combined tensile, bending and thermal loading by considering a uniformly bent beam subjected to superimposed tensile stress and lateral temperature gradients. The creep deformation of the beam can be calculated numerically applying a Norton-type creep law. It turns out that the ratio of curvature rate to strain at the outer fiber depends on the creep exponent. Therefore, the reference stresses for these two quantities must be expected to be different in general. In most load cases, however, it is possible to determine a reference stress which can be used to describe the complete deformation of the beam. The only exception is the case of high tensile loading if the side exposed to higher tensile stress is cooler. Approximate solutions for the reference stress which rely on elastic and limit analyses, can be used only for estimates because they lead to extremely non-conservative predictions. (author)