Abstract <p>A numerical and analytical model of the structural mechanics of multidirectionally reinforced metal-composites operating under short-term creep conditions has been developed. The materials of the components of the metal-composition are homogeneous and isotropic; their thermal sensitivity and thermoelastoplastic deformation are taken into account. Plastic deformation of the phases of the composition is described by the relations of the theory of flow with isotropic hardening. As damage parameters for the components of a metal-composition, their relative mechanical deformation accumulated during loading is used – the deformation criterion for failure during short-term creep of metals. To construct the specified mathematical model, due to its significant physical nonlinearity, an algorithm of variable time steps was used. Linearization of the governing equations for the components and the metal-composition as a whole at each time step is carried out using a method similar to the secant modulus method. Using the example of moment-free cylindrical shells, it is demonstrated that, due to the essentially physical nonlinearity of the modeled problem, varying the reinforcement structure in metal-composite structures operating under conditions of short-term creep has a significantly greater impact on their mechanical response than when operating under conditions of thermoelastic deformation. With an increase in the operating temperature of a metal-composite product, this influence increases sharply. With some, in particular rational, reinforcement structures, the materials of the metal-composition of the product can be deformed, exhibiting signs inherent in limited creep. With such reinforcement structures, the structure can operate effectively under conditions of long-term loading, and not only under short-term creep.</p>