On the low temperature creep controlling mechanism in a high strength spring steel

Despite of the well-known fact that high strength steels are exhibiting low temperature
creep deformation, its rate controlling mechanism is yet to be understood. The strain
hardening theory and the exhaustion creep model were proposed almost seven decades
ago to unravel the low temperature creep mechanism in a single phase homogeneous
isotropic material. However, their applicability to low temperature creep deformation in a
technical material like a modern high strength steel is still a matter of investigation owing
to their nature of multi-phase, in-homogeneous, and an-isotropic behavior. The authors
have grabbed this chance to experimentally validate the exhaustion creep model based on
low temperature creep tests of the SAE 9254 spring steel.