Cracking of creeping plates in terms of continuum damage mechanics

In the paper the process of cracking of plates subjected to creep conditions is dealt with by means of Continuum Damage Mechanics. In such a way two stages of failure process can be taken into account: the nucleation of a macro-crack as result of the damage field development, and the propagation of this crack throughout the plate body. Two types of plates have been considered: that for which the whole plate thickness is subjected to a deterioration process, and plates with an elastic core which is non-degrading. In the latter case the time to first crack appearance practically terminates time dependent behaviour of a structure, whereas in the former case the analysis can be extended to cover both stages and evaluate the ratio of time to first crack appearance to the time of through-body crack formation.