Ratcheting-creep interaction of advanced 9–12% chromium ferrite steel with anelastic effect

► The creep strain is recovered partly or completely under the unloading stage. ► Deformation and failure mechanisms for various hold times are very different. ► A constitutive model is proposed to simulate the ratcheting–creep behavior. The ratcheting-creep interaction of advanced 9–12% chromium ferrite steel was tested and simulated under various hold times at 600 °C. A constitutive model involving the influence of anelastic relaxation was proposed and agreed very well with the experimental data. Results indicated that when the dwell time at peak load was less than 5-min, the total strain was mainly produced by the ratcheting strain due to the anelastic creep recovery and eventually failed due to ductile-fatigue damage, while for a longer holding time the accumulated creep strain and the fatigue-creep damage were the controlling mechanism of deformation and failure.