A new constitutive analysis of hexagonal close-packed metal in equal channel angular pressing by crystal plasticity finite element method

Most of hexagonal close-packed (HCP) metals are lightweight metals. With the increasing application of light metal products, the production of light metal is increasingly attracting the attentions of researchers worldwide. To obtain a better understanding of the deformation mechanism of HCP metals (especially for Mg and its alloys), a new constitutive analysis was carried out based on previous research. In this study, combining the theories of strain gradient and continuum mechanics, the equal channel angular pressing process is analyzed and a HCP crystal plasticity constitutive model is developed especially for Mg and its alloys. The influence of elevated temperature on the deformation mechanism of the Mg alloy (slip and twin) is novelly introduced into a crystal plasticity constitutive model. The solution for the new developed constitutive model is established on the basis of the Lagrangian iterations and Newton Raphson simplification.     

Constitutive modeling for anisotropic/asymmetric hardening behavior of magnesium alloy sheets

Magnesium alloy sheets have been extending their field of applications to automotive and electronic industries taking advantage of their excellent light weight property. In addition to well-known lower formability, magnesium alloys have unique mechanical properties which have not been thoroughly studied: high in-plane anisotropy/asymmetry of yield stress and hardening response. The reason of the unusual mechanical behavior of magnesium alloys has been understood by the limited symmetry crystal structure of HCP metals and thus by deformation twinning. In this paper, the phenomenological continuum plasticity models considering the unusual plastic behavior of magnesium alloy sheet were developed for a finite element analysis. A hardening law based on two-surface model was further extended to consider the general stress–strain response of metal sheets including Bauschinger effect, transient behavior and the unusual asymmetry. Three deformation modes observed during the continuous in-plane tension/compression tests were mathematically formulated with simplified relations between the state of deformation and their histories. In terms of the anisotropy and asymmetry of the initial yield stress, the Drucker–Prager’s pressure dependent yield surface was modified to include the anisotropy of magnesium alloy. The numerical formulations and characterization procedures were also presented and finally the correlation of simulation with measurements was performed to validate the proposed theory.     

Computational multiscale methods for granular materials

The fine-scale heterogeneity of granular material is characterized by its polydisperse microstructure with randomness and no periodicity. To predict the mechanical response of the material as the microstructure evolves, it is demonstrated to develop computational multiscale methods using discrete particle assembly-Cosserat continuum modeling in micro- and macro- scales, respectively. The computational homogenization method and the bridge scale method along the concurrent scale linking approach are briefly introduced. Based on the weak form of the Hu-Washizu variational principle, the mixed finite element procedure of gradient Cosserat continuum in the frame of the second-order homogenization scheme is developed. The meso-mechanically informed anisotropic damage of effective Cosserat continuum is characterized and identified and the microscopic mechanisms of macroscopic damage phenomenon are revealed.     

A micromechanics based damage model for composite materials

The predictive capacity of ductile fracture models when applied to composite and multiphase materials is related to the accuracy of the estimated stress/strain level in the second phases or reinforcements, which defines the condition for damage nucleation. Second phase particles contribute to the overall hardening of the composite before void nucleation, as well as to its softening after their fracture or decohesion. If the volume fraction of reinforcement is larger than a couple of percents, this softening can significantly affect the resistance to plastic localization and cannot be neglected. In order to explicitly account for the effect of second phase particles on the ductile fracture process, this study integrates a damage model based on the Gologanu–Leblond–Devaux constitutive behavior with a mean-field homogenization scheme. Even though the model is more general, the present study focuses on elastic particles dispersed in an elasto-plastic matrix. After assessing the mean-field homogenization scheme through comparison with two-dimensional axisymmetric finite element calculations, an extensive parametric study is performed using the integrated homogenization-damage model. The predictions of the integrated homogenization-damage model are also compared with experimental results on cast aluminum alloys, in terms of both the fracture strain and overall stress–strain curves. The study demonstrates the complex couplings among the load transfer to second phase particles, their resistance to fracture, the void nucleation mode, and the overall ductility.     

Design of microstructure-sensitive properties in elasto-viscoplastic polycrystals using multi-scale homogenization

Evolution of properties during processing of materials depends on the underlying material microstructure. A finite element homogenization approach is presented for calculating the evolution of macro-scale properties during processing of microstructures. A mathematically rigorous sensitivity analysis of homogenization is presented that is used to identify optimal forging rates in processes that would lead to a desired microstructure response. Macro-scale parameters such as forging rates are linked with microstructure deformation using boundary conditions drawn from the theory of multi-scale homogenization. Homogenized stresses at the macro-scale are obtained through volume-averaging laws. A constitutive framework for thermo-elastic–viscoplastic response of single crystals is utilized along with a fully-implicit Lagrangian finite element algorithm for modelling microstructure evolution. The continuum sensitivity method (CSM) used for designing processes involves differentiation of the governing field equations of homogenization with respect to the processing parameters and development of the weak forms for the corresponding sensitivity equations that are solved using finite element analysis. The sensitivity of the deformation field within the microstructure is exactly defined and an averaging principle is developed to compute the sensitivity of homogenized stresses at the macro-scale due to perturbations in the process parameters. Computed sensitivities are used within a gradient-based optimization framework for controlling the response of the microstructure. Development of texture and stress–strain response in 2D and 3D FCC aluminum polycrystalline aggregates using the homogenization algorithm is compared with both Taylor-based simulations and published experimental results. Processing parameters that would lead to a desired equivalent stress–strain curve in a sample poly-crystalline microstructure are identified for single and two-stage loading using the design algorithm.     

Homogenization-based continuum plasticity-damage model for ductile failure of materials containing heterogeneities

This paper develops an accurate and computationally efficient homogenization-based continuum plasticity-damage (HCPD) model for macroscopic analysis of ductile failure in porous ductile materials containing brittle inclusions. Example of these materials are cast alloys such as aluminum and metal matrix composites. The overall framework of the HCPD model follows the structure of the anisotropic Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) type elasto-plasticity model for porous ductile materials. The HCPD model is assumed to be orthotropic in an evolving material principal coordinate system throughout the deformation history. The GTN model parameters are calibrated from homogenization of evolving variables in representative volume elements (RVE) of the microstructure containing inclusions and voids. Micromechanical analyses for this purpose are conducted by the locally enriched Voronoi cell finite element model (LE-VCFEM) [Hu, C., Ghosh, S., 2008. Locally enhanced Voronoi cell finite element model (LE-VCFEM) for simulating evolving fracture in ductile microstructures containing inclusions. Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 76(12), 1955-1992]. The model also introduces a novel void nucleation criterion from micromechanical damage evolution due to combined inclusion and matrix cracking. The paper discusses methods for estimating RVE length scales in microstructures with non-uniform dispersions, as well as macroscopic characteristic length scales for non-local constitutive models. Comparison of results from the anisotropic HCPD model with homogenized micromechanics shows excellent agreement. The HCPD model has a huge efficiency advantage over micromechanics models. Hence, it is a very effective tool in predicting macroscopic damage in structures with direct reference to microstructural composition.     

CONTINUUM VOID NUCLEATION MODEL FOR Al-Mg ALLOY SHEET BASED ON MEASURED PARTICLE DISTRIBUTION

Void nucleation within measured particle fields of an aluminum alloy is investigated to develop a continuum nucleation model which reflects nucleation at the individual particle scale. A nucleation model for heterogeneous particle distributions is synchronized with the continuum model of Chu and Needleman using the average nucleation strain. The parameters in the continuum model are identified from the particle fields and are evaluated over the range of stress states observed in sheet metal forming. The synchronized continuum nucleation model achieves very good agreement with the nucleation trends for three measured particle fields in uniaxial tension, plane strain, and equal-biaxial tension.     

基于迭代法的非线性弹性均质化研究

微观结构对复合材料的宏观力学性能具有至关重要的影响, 通过合理设计复合材料微观结构可以得到期望的宏观性能. 均质化方法作为一种有效的设计方法, 它从微观结构的角度出发, 利用均匀化的概念, 实现了对复合材料宏观力学性能的预测和设计. 而当考虑非线性因素, 均质化的实现就非常困难. 本文利用双渐近展开方法, 将位移按照宏观位移和微观位移展开, 推导了非线性弹性均质化方程. 通过直接迭代法, 对非线性弹性均质化方程进行了求解, 并给出了具体的迭代方法和实现步骤. 本文基于迭代步骤和非线性弹性均质化方程编写MATLAB 程序, 对3种典型本构关系的周期性多孔材料平面问题进行了计算, 对比细致模型的应变能、最大位移和等效泊松比, 对程序及迭代方法的准确性进行了验证. 之后对一种三元橡胶基复合材料进行多尺度均质化, 将其分为芯丝尺度和层间尺度. 用线弹性的均质化方法得到了芯丝尺度的等效弹性参数, 并将其作为层间尺度的材料参数. 在层间尺度应用非线性弹性均质化方法对结构进行计算, 得到材料的宏观等效性能, 并以实验结果为基准进行评价.      

Modeling stress state dependent damage evolution in a cast Al–Si–Mg aluminum alloy

Internal state variable rate equations are cast in a continuum framework to model void nucleation, growth, and coalescence in a cast Al–Si–Mg aluminum alloy. The kinematics and constitutive relations for damage resulting from void nucleation, growth, and coalescence are discussed. Because damage evolution is intimately coupled with the stress state, internal state variable hardening rate equations are developed to distinguish between compression, tension, and torsion straining conditions. The scalar isotropic hardening equation and second rank tensorial kinematic hardening equation from the Bammann–Chiesa–Johnson (BCJ) Plasticity model are modified to account for hardening rate differences under tension, compression, and torsion. A method for determining the material constants for the plasticity and damage equations is presented. Parameter determination for the proposed phenomenological nucleation rate equation, motivated from fracture mechanics and microscale physical observations, involves counting nucleation sites as a function of strain from optical micrographs. Although different void growth models can be included, the McClintock void growth model is used in this study. A coalescence model is also introduced. The damage framework is then evaluated with respect to experimental tensile data of notched Al–Si–Mg cast aluminum alloy specimens. Finite element results employing the damage framework are shown to illustrate its usefulness.     

A multi-phase micromechanical model for unsaturated concrete repaired using the electrochemical deposition method

Most concrete structures repaired using the electrochemical deposition method (EDM) are not fully saturated in reality. To theoretically illustrate the deposition healing process by micromechanics and quantitatively describe the effective properties of unsaturated concrete during the EDM healing process, a multi-phase multi-level micromechanical framework is proposed based on the microstructure of unsaturated concrete and the EDM’s healing mechanism. In the proposed model, the volume fractions of water and deposition products, the water effect (including further hydration and viscosity in pores) and the shapes of pores in the concrete are comprehensively considered. Moreover, multi-level homogenization procedures are employed to predict the effective properties of unsaturated concrete repaired using the EDM. For the first-level homogenization of this model, a modified function is presented to correct the Mori–Tanaka (M–T) method, which is used to predict the effective properties of equivalent inclusions composed of deposition products and water. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed micromechanical model, predictions obtained via the proposed multi-phase micromechanical model are compared with the experimental data, including results from extreme states during the EDM healing process. Finally, the influences of equivalent aspect ratios and deposition product properties on the healing effectiveness of EDM are discussed based on the proposed micromechanical model.     

Evaluation of finite element based analysis of 3D multicrystalline aggregates plasticity: Application to crystal plasticity model identification and the study of stress and strain fields near grain boundaries

Plastic heterogeneities of hexagonal close-packed (HCP) materials are numerically investigated at the grain level. Intensive use of parallel Finite Elements computations enables us to study micro-plasticity of realistic 3D multicrystalline aggregates, including, macroscopic mechanical responses but also average responses in each grain and particularly local stress and strain fields. This paper focuses on three applications of this simulation method. The first part of this paper is devoted to a fine analysis of micro-plasticity of HCP materials. Intergranular but also intragranular stress and strain heterogeneities are described and micro-plasticity patterns are displayed throughout the 3D microstructures. A special attention is paid to the sensitivity of simulations with respect to the mesh discretization, the element interpolation and the geometrical representation of grain boundaries, in terms of macroscopic and local responses. Later, a simplified homogenization method is evaluated, regarding results of the first part. Afterwards, this method is applied with a zirconium alloy to identify a set of coefficients for a single crystal plasticity model. Finally, in order to provide critical information for intergranular damage phenomena (reported in literature for zirconium alloys), the third part provides a statistical analysis of over-stresses at grain boundaries.     

Negative Poisson's ratios in composites with star-shaped inclusions: a numerical homogenization approach

Summary Materials with specific microstructural characteristics and composite structures are able to exhibit negative Poisson's ratio. This result has been proved for continuum materials by analytical methods in previous works of the first author, among others [1]. Furthermore, it also has been shown to be valid for certain mechanisms involving beams or rigid levers, springs or sliding collars frameworks and, in general, composites with voids having a nonconvex microstructure.Recently microstructures optimally designed by the homogenization approach have been verified. For microstructures composed of beams, it has been postulated that nonconvex shapes with re-entrant corners are responsible for this effect [2]. In this paper, it is numerically shown that mainly the shape of the re-entrant corner of a non-convex, star-shaped, microstructure influences the apparent (phenomenological) Poisson's ratio. The same is valid for continua with voids or for composities with irregular shapes of inclusions, even if the individual constituents are quite usual materials. Elements of the numerical homogenization theory are reviewed and used for the numerical investigation. Accepted for publication 10 September 1996     

Effect of nanoparticles on the structure and properties of an aluminum alloy poured into a mould with the use of a magnetohydrodynamic disk pump

The influence of two nanomodifiers with different compositions during their homogenization in the AL7 aluminum melt and moulding on the properties of the modified aluminum alloy is studied. Experiments are performed with the use of a centrifugal conductive magnetohydrodynamic pump. The melt is poured into a graphite mould with three cylindrical channels 38 mm in diameter and 160 mm long, which are designed for a metal mass of 500 g. Two compositions are used as modifying agents: nano-scale particles of the aluminum nitride powder 40-100 nm in size and metallized carbon nanotubes smaller than 25 nm, which are clad with aluminum to improve wetting of their surface. The analysis of the structure of the experimental and reference samples shows that the use of modifiers leads to refinement of the grain structure of the cast metal. According to the Hall-Petch theory, this effect may result in improvement of mechanical characteristics of the cast metal.     

Second-gradient homogenized model for wave propagation in heterogeneous periodic media

The paper is focused on a homogenization procedure for the analysis of wave propagation in materials with periodic microstructure. By a reformulation of the variational-asymptotic homogenization technique recently proposed by Bacigalupo and Gambarotta (2012a), a second-gradient continuum model is derived, which provides a sufficiently accurate approximation of the lowest (acoustic) branch of the dispersion curves obtained by the Floquet–Bloch theory and may be a useful tool for the wave propagation analysis in bounded domains. The multi-scale kinematics is described through micro-fluctuation functions of the displacement field, which are derived by the solution of a recurrent sequence of cell BVPs and obtained as the superposition of a static and dynamic contribution. The latters are proportional to the even powers of the phase velocity and consequently the micro-fluctuation functions also depend on the direction of propagation. Therefore, both the higher order elastic moduli and the inertial terms result to depend by the dynamic correctors. This approach is applied to the study of wave propagation in layered bi-materials with orthotropic phases, having an axis of orthotropy parallel to the direction of layering, in which case, the overall elastic and inertial constants can be determined analytically. The reliability of the proposed procedure is analysed by comparing the obtained dispersion functions with those derived by the Floquet–Bloch theory.     

Alloying effects on dislocation substructure evolution of aluminum alloys

The constitutive response of aluminum alloys is controlled by the evolution of dislocation substructure including mobile and forest dislocation density, cell size distribution and morphology, and misorientation angle between neighboring cells. The present study focuses upon the small strain regime and compares the measured microstructural evolution of 3003, 5005, and 6022 aluminum alloys during deformation. Room temperature tensile deformation experiments were performed on industrially manufactured specimens of each alloy and the evolving microstructure was compared with the mechanical response. The dislocation structure evolution was characterized using transmission electron microscopy and orientation imaging of deformed specimens. It was observed that structural evolution is a function of lattice orientation and the character of neighboring grains. In general, the dislocation cell size and misorientation angle between dislocation cells evolves systematically with deformation at relatively small strain levels.     

高熵合金冲击变形行为研究进展

高熵合金作为一种多主元合金,突破了传统合金单主元的设计思想,体现出不同于传统合金的优异性能,特别在高温、高压、高应变率等极端环境中有着良好的应用前景。从微观、细观与宏观尺度分析高熵合金的冲击变形特性对于其工程应用具有重要的指导作用,主要涉及元素效应、细观结构以及高温高应变率条件对高熵合金冲击损伤演化、微观结构变化和冲击变形演化过程的影响机制。元素效应主要讨论了原子半径差异较大的金属与非金属元素对高熵合金冲击变形行为的影响;根据细观结构不同,将高熵合金分为单相与多相结构,单相高熵合金为塑性较好的面心立方（face centered cubic,FCC）结构、强度较高的体心立方（body centered cubic,BCC）与密排六方（hexagonal close-packed,HCP）结构。多相高熵合金的细观结构为这三种单相结构或者与其他相的组合,多相高熵合金的协同变形能够使其获得更为优异的综合力学性能。高温与高应变率作为外部条件对高熵合金的影响与其他金属相似,高温促进材料软化而高应变率促进材料硬化,部分高熵合金在高温下具有更优异的抗变形能力。针对高熵合金的冲击特性,总结了目前高熵合金在国防工程冲击领域的应用,归纳了高熵合金冲击变形行为研究存在的问题,并进一步对高熵合金在极端条件下的应用进行了展望。     

Multi-scale analysis in elasto-viscoplasticity coupled with damage

The purpose of this study is to present a micromechanical approach, based on the transformation field analysis (TFA), proposed by Dvorak, which has been generalized at Onera in order to analyze the nonlinear behavior of heterogeneous materials in elasto-viscoplasticity coupled with damage. In such analysis, the macroscopic constitutive equations are not purely phenomenological but are built up from multi-scale approaches starting from the knowledge of the properties of the constituents at the microscopic or mesoscopic scales. The model can take into account some local characteristics that can evolve during the thermo-mechanical applied loads or the manufacturing process, like the grain size for metallic alloys or the fiber volume fraction for composites.The determination of some specific tensors which are present in this formulation is closely linked to the microstructure morphology of heterogeneous materials constituting the macroscopic structure. For example, an Eshelby’s based approach is more appropriate to characterize polycrystalline materials with a random microstructure, while the homogenization of periodic media technique can be used for composite materials with a sufficiently regular microstructure. The proposed methodologies allowing to perform this nonlinear analysis across the scales are illustrated with examples based on the behavior of structures reinforced with a long fiber unidirectional metal matrix composite.     

Forming of AA5182-O and AA5754-O at elevated temperatures using coupled thermo-mechanical finite element models

A temperature-dependent anisotropic material model was developed for two aluminum alloys AA5182-O and AA5754-O and their anisotropy parameters were established. A coupled thermo-mechanical finite element analysis of the forming process was then performed for the temperature range 25–260 °C (77–500 °F) at different strain rates. In the developed model, the anisotropy coefficients for Barlat’s YLD2000-2d anisotropic yield function [Barlat, F., Brem, J.C., Yoon, J.W., Chung, K., Dick, R.E., Lege, D.J., Pourboghrat, F., Choi, S.H., Chu, E., 2003. Plane stress yield function for aluminum alloy sheets – Part 1: Theory. Int. J. Plasticity 19, 1297–1319] in the plane-stress condition and the parameters for the isotropic strain hardening were established as a function of temperature. The temperature-dependent anisotropic yield function was then implemented into the commercial FEM code LS-DYNA as a user material subroutine (UMAT) using the cutting-plane algorithm for the integration of a general class of elastoplastic constitutive models [Abedrabbo, N., Pourboghrat, F., Carsley, J., 2006b. Forming of aluminum alloys at elevated temperatures – Part 2: Numerical modeling and experimental verification. Int. J. Plasticity 22 (2), 342–737]. The temperature-dependent material model was used to simulate the coupled thermo-mechanical finite element analysis of the stamping of an aluminum sheet using a hemispherical punch under the pure stretch boundary condition (no material draw-in was allowed). Simulation results were compared with experimental data at several elevated temperatures to evaluate the accuracy of the UMAT’s ability to predict both forming behavior and failure locations. Two failure criteria were used in the analysis; the M–K strain based forming limit diagrams (ε-FLD), and the stress based forming limit diagrams (σ-FLD). Both models were developed using Barlat’s YLD2000-2d anisotropic model for the two materials at several elevated temperatures. Also, as a design tool, the Genetic Algorithm optimization program HEEDS was linked with the developed thermo-mechanical models and used to numerically predict the “optimum” set of temperatures that would generate the maximum formability for the two materials in the pure stretch experiments. It was found that a higher temperature is not needed to form the part, but rather the punch should be maintained at the lowest temperature possible for maximum formability.