A generalized anisotropic hardening rule based on the Mroz multi-yield-surface model for pressure insensitive and sensitive materials

In this paper, a generalized anisotropic hardening rule based on the Mroz multi-yield-surface model for pressure insensitive and sensitive materials is derived. The evolution equation for the active yield surface with reference to the memory yield surface is obtained by considering the continuous expansion of the active yield surface during the unloading/reloading process. The incremental constitutive relation based on the associated flow rule is then derived for a general yield function for pressure insensitive and sensitive materials. Detailed incremental constitutive relations for materials based on the Mises yield function, the Hill quadratic anisotropic yield function and the Drucker–Prager yield function are derived as the special cases. The closed-form solutions for one-dimensional stress–plastic strain curves are also derived and plotted for materials under cyclic loading conditions based on the three yield functions. In addition, the closed-form solutions for one-dimensional stress–plastic strain curves for materials based on the isotropic Cazacu–Barlat yield function under cyclic loading conditions are summarized and presented. For materials based on the Mises and the Hill anisotropic yield functions, the stress–plastic strain curves show closed hysteresis loops under uniaxial cyclic loading conditions and the Masing hypothesis is applicable. For materials based on the Drucker–Prager and Cazacu–Barlat yield functions, the stress–plastic strain curves do not close and show the ratcheting effect under uniaxial cyclic loading conditions. The ratcheting effect is due to different strain ranges for a given stress range for the unloading and reloading processes. With these closed-form solutions, the important effects of the yield surface geometry on the cyclic plastic behavior due to the pressure-sensitive yielding or the unsymmetric behavior in tension and compression can be shown unambiguously. The closed form solutions for the Drucker–Prager and Cazacu–Barlat yield functions with the associated flow rule also suggest that a more general anisotropic hardening theory needs to be developed to address the ratcheting effects for a given stress range.     

A crystal plasticity model for strain-path changes in metals

A model is proposed that deals with the transient mechanical anisotropy during strain-path changes in metals. The basic mechanism is assumed to be latent hardening or softening of the slip systems, dependent on if they are active or passive during deformation, reflecting microstructural mechanisms that depend on the deformation mode rather than on the crystallography. The new model captures the experimentally observed behaviour of cross hardening in agreement with experiments for an AA3103 aluminium alloy. Generic results for strain reversals qualitatively agree with two types of behaviour reported in the literature – with or without a plateau on the stress–strain curve. The influence of the model parameters is studied through detailed calculations of the response of three selected parameter combinations, including the evolution of yield surface sections subsequent to 10% pre-strain. The mathematical complexity is kept to a minimum by avoiding explicit predictions related directly to underpinning microstructural changes. The starting point of the model is a combination of conventional texture and work hardening approaches, where an adapted full-constraints Taylor theory and a simple single-crystal work-hardening model for monotonic strain are used. However, the framework of the model is not restricted to these particular models.     

Forming limit stresses predicted by phenomenological plasticity theories with anisotropic work-hardening behavior

Forming limit stresses of sheet metals subjected to linear and combined stress paths are analyzed using the M-K model in conjunction with two anisotropic work-hardening models: a work-hardening model which is capable of describing Bauschinger and cross-hardening effects, and a work-hardening model which cannot predict the cross-hardening effect. It is found that the forming limit stress is path-independent when the stress–strain curves for the linear and combined stress paths agree well with each other. On the other hand, the forming limit stress for the combined stress path depends on the strain path when the prestrain changes the subsequent stress–strain relation. We conclude that the stress-based forming limit criterion is efficient only for a material with a work-hardening behavior that is not affected by strain path change. The influence of the work-hardening behavior on the forming limit stress is discussed in detail.     

Constitutive modeling for anisotropic/asymmetric hardening behavior of magnesium alloy sheets: Application to sheet springback

The constitutive model for the unusual asymmetric hardening behavior of magnesium alloy sheet presented in a companion paper (Lee, M.G., Wagoner, R.H., Lee, J.K., Chung, K., Kim, H.Y., 2008. Constitutive modeling for anisotropic/asymmetric hardening behavior of magnesium alloy sheet, Int. J. Plasticity 24(4), 545–582) was applied to the springback prediction in sheet metal forming. The implicit finite element program ABAQUS was utilized to implement the developed constitutive equations via user material subroutine. For the verification purpose, the springback of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet was measured using the unconstrained cylindrical bending test of Numisheet (Numisheet ’2002 Benchmark Problem, 2002. In: Yang, D.Y., Oh, S.I., Huh, H., Kim, Y.H. (Eds.), Proceedings of 5th International Conference and Workshop on Numerical Simulation of 3D Sheet Forming Processes, Jeju, Korea) and 2D draw bend test. With the specially designed draw bend test the direct restraining force and long drawn distance were attainable, thus the measurement of the springback could be made with improved accuracy comparable with conventional U channel draw bend test. Besides the developed constitutive models, other models based on isotropic constitutive equations and the Chaboche type kinematic hardening model were also considered. Comparisons were made between simulated results by the finite element analysis and corresponding experiments and the newly proposed model showed enhanced prediction capability, which was also supported by the simple bending analysis adopting asymmetric stress–strain response.     

Non-local crystal plasticity model with intrinsic SSD and GND effects

A strain gradient-dependent crystal plasticity approach is presented to model the constitutive behaviour of polycrystal FCC metals under large plastic deformation. In order to be capable of predicting scale dependence, the heterogeneous deformation-induced evolution and distribution of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) are incorporated into the phenomenological continuum theory of crystal plasticity. Consequently, the resulting boundary value problem accommodates, in addition to the ordinary stress equilibrium condition, a condition which sets the additional nodal degrees of freedom, the edge and screw GND densities, proportional (in a weak sense) to the gradients of crystalline slip. Next to this direct coupling between microstructural dislocation evolutions and macroscopic gradients of plastic slip, another characteristic of the presented crystal plasticity model is the incorporation of the GND-effect, which leads to an essentially different constitutive behaviour than the statistically stored dislocation (SSD) densities. The GNDs, by their geometrical nature of locally similar signs, are expected to influence the plastic flow through a non-local back-stress measure, counteracting the resolved shear stress on the slip systems in the undeformed situation and providing a kinematic hardening contribution. Furthermore, the interactions between both SSD and GND densities are subject to the formation of slip system obstacle densities and accompanying hardening, accountable for slip resistance. As an example problem and without loss of generality, the model is applied to predict the formation of boundary layers and the accompanying size effect of a constrained strip under simple shear deformation, for symmetric double-slip conditions.     

Crystal plasticity model with enhanced hardening by geometrically necessary dislocation accumulation

A strain gradient dependent crystal plasticity approach is used to model the constitutive behaviour of polycrystal FCC metals under large plastic deformation. Material points are considered as aggregates of grains, subdivided into several fictitious grain fractions: a single crystal volume element stands for the grain interior whereas grain boundaries are represented by bi-crystal volume elements, each having the crystallographic lattice orientations of its adjacent crystals. A relaxed Taylor-like interaction law is used for the transition from the local to the global scale. It is relaxed with respect to the bi-crystals, providing compatibility and stress equilibrium at their internal interface. During loading, the bi-crystal boundaries deform dissimilar to the associated grain interior. Arising from this heterogeneity, a geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density can be computed, which is required to restore compatibility of the crystallographic lattice. This effect provides a physically based method to account for the additional hardening as introduced by the GNDs, the magnitude of which is related to the grain size. Hence, a scale-dependent response is obtained, for which the numerical simulations predict a mechanical behaviour corresponding to the Hall-Petch effect. Compared to a full-scale finite element model reported in the literature, the present polycrystalline crystal plasticity model is of equal quality yet much more efficient from a computational point of view for simulating uniaxial tension experiments with various grain sizes.     

Thermal ratcheting of solder-bonded elastic and elastoplastic layers

The cyclically growing deflection of solder-bonded elastic and elastoplastic layers subjected to cyclic thermal loading is studied. Finite element analysis of a Si/Sn–95Pb/OFHC-Cu layered structure is performed by taking into account the temperature-dependent viscoplastic behavior of Sn–95Pb as well as the uniaxial ratcheting behavior of OFHC-Cu. A temperature-dependent power law is employed for the viscoplasticity of Sn–95Pb, while a combined nonlinear kinematic and isotropic hardening model is assumed for the cyclic plasticity of OFHC-Cu. It is shown that the temperature-dependent viscoplasticity of Sn–95Pb and the uniaxial ratcheting of OFHC-Cu are the controlling factors for the cyclic growth of deflection of the layered structure under temperature cycling. It is also shown that cyclic hardening of OFHC-Cu plays an important role for the cyclic growth of deflection, and that elastic stress in the Si layer cyclically develops noticeably if the cyclic growth of deflection is significant.     

Characterization of yielding behavior of polycrystalline metals with single crystal plasticity based on representative characteristic length

Single crystal plasticity based on a representative characteristic length is proposed and introduced into a homogenization approach based on finite element analyses, which are applied to characterization of distinctive yielding behaviors of polycrystalline metals, yield-point elongation, and grain size strengthening. The computational manner for an implicit stress update is derived with the framework of a standard multi-surface plasticity at finite strain, where the evolution of the characteristic lengths are numerically converted from the accumulated slips of all of slip systems by exploiting the mathematical feature of the characteristic length as the intermediate function of the plastic internal variables. Furthermore, a constitutive model for a single crystal reproduces the stress–strain curve divided into three parts. Using two-scale finite element analysis, the macroscopic stress–strain response with yield-point elongation under a situation of low dislocation density is reproduced. Finally, the grain size effect on the yield strength is analyzed with modeling of the grain boundary in the context of the proposed constitutive model and is discussed from both macroscopic and microscopic views.     

Analytical springback model for lightweight hexagonal close-packed sheet metal

Experiments have shown that magnesium alloy sheet a common hexagonal close-packed metal, exhibits mechanical behavior unlike that of sheets made of cubic metals (X.Y. Lou et al., 2007, Int. J. Plasticity, 24, 44). The unique stress–strain response includes a strong asymmetry in the initial yield and subsequent plastic hardening. In other words, the stress–strain curves in tension and compression are significantly different. A proper representation of the constitutive relationships is crucial for the accurate evaluation of springback, which occurs due to the residual moment distribution through the sheet thickness after bending. In this paper, we propose an analytical model for asymmetric elasto-plastic bending under tension followed by elastic unloading in order to evaluate the bending moment, which is equivalent to the springback amount. To simplify the calculations, the experimentally measured stress–strain curve of the magnesium alloy sheet was approximated with discrete linear hardening in each deformation region, and the material properties were characterized according to several simplifying assumptions. The bending moment was calculated analytically using the approximate asymmetric stress–strain relationship up to the prescribed curvature corresponding to the radius of the tool in sheet metal forming operations. A numerical example showed an unusual springback increase, even with an increase in the applied force; this is an unexpected result for conventional symmetric materials. We also compared the calculated springback amounts with the results of physical measurements. This showed that the proposed model predicts the main trends of the springback in magnesium alloy sheets reasonably well considering the simplicity of the analytical approach.     

Experimental investigation of cyclic and time-dependent deformation of titanium alloy at elevated temperature

A novel cyclic deformation test program was undertaken to characterize macroscopic time dependent deformation of a titanium alloy for use in viscoplastic model development. All tests were conducted at a high homologous temperature, 650 °C, where there are large time dependent and loading rate dependent effects. Uninterrupted constant amplitude tests having zero mean stress or a tensile mean stress were conducted using three different control modes: strain amplitude and strain rate, stress amplitude and stress rate, and a hybrid stress amplitude and strain rate. Strain ratcheting occurred for all cyclic tests having a tensile mean stress and no plastic shakedown was observed. The shape of the strain ratcheting curve as a function of time is analogous to a creep curve having primary, steady state and tertiary regions, but the magnitude of the ratchet strains are higher than creep strains would be for a constant stress equal to the mean stress. Strain cycles interrupted with up to eight 2-h stress relaxation periods around the hysteresis loop, including hold times in each quadrant of the stress–strain diagram, were also conducted. Stress relaxation was path-dependent and in some cases the stress relaxed to zero. The cyclic behavior of these interrupted tests was similar even though each cycle was very complex. These results support constitutive model development by providing exploratory, characterization and validation data.     

A non-associated constitutive model with mixed iso-kinematic hardening for finite element simulation of sheet metal forming

In this paper an anisotropic material model based on non-associated flow rule and mixed isotropic–kinematic hardening was developed and implemented into a user-defined material (UMAT) subroutine for the commercial finite element code ABAQUS. Both yield function and plastic potential were defined in the form of Hill’s [Hill, R., 1948. A theory of the yielding and plastic flow of anisotropic metals. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 193, 281–297] quadratic anisotropic function, where the coefficients for the yield function were determined from the yield stresses in different material orientations, and those of the plastic potential were determined from the r-values in different directions. Isotropic hardening follows a nonlinear behavior, generally in the power law form for most grades of steel and the exponential law form for aluminum alloys. Also, a kinematic hardening law was implemented to account for cyclic loading effects. The evolution of the backstress tensor was modeled based on the nonlinear kinematic hardening theory (Armstrong–Frederick formulation). Computational plasticity equations were then formulated by using a return-mapping algorithm to integrate the stress over each time increment. Either explicit or implicit time integration schemes can be used for this model. Finally, the implemented material model was utilized to simulate two sheet metal forming processes: the cup drawing of AA2090-T3, and the springback of the channel drawing of two sheet materials (DP600 and AA6022-T43). Experimental cyclic shear tests were carried out in order to determine the cyclic stress–strain behavior and the Bauschinger ratio. The in-plane anisotropy (r-value and yield stress directionalities) of these sheet materials was also compared with the results of numerical simulations using the non-associated model. These results showed that this non-associated, mixed hardening model significantly improves the prediction of earing in the cup drawing process and the prediction of springback in the sidewall of drawn channel sections, even when a simple quadratic constitutive model is used.     

Modelling the behaviour of polycrystalline austenitic steel with twinning-induced plasticity effect

A micromechanical model using the scale transition method in elastoviscoplasticity has been developed to describe the behaviour of those austenitic steels that display a TWIP effect. A physically based constitutive equation at the grain scale is proposed considering two inelastic strain modes: crystallographic slip and twinning. The typical organizations of microtwins observed in electron microscopy are considered, and the twin–slip as well as the twin–twin interactions are accounted for. The parameters for slip are first fitted on the uniaxial tensile response obtained at intermediate temperatures (when twinning is inhibited). Then, the parameters associated with twinning are identified using the stress–strain curve at room temperature. The simulated results in both macro and micro scales are in good agreement with experimentally obtained results.     

Debonding failure and size effects in micro-reinforced composites

Failure in micro-reinforced composites is investigated numerically using the strain-gradient plasticity theory of Gudmundson [Gudmundson, P., 2004. A unified treatment of strain gradient plasticity. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 52 (6) 1379–1406] in a plane strain visco-plastic formulation. Bi-axially loaded unit cells are used and failure is modeled using a cohesive zone at the reinforcement interface. During debonding a sudden stress drop in the overall average stress–strain response is observed. Adaptive higher-order boundary conditions are imposed at the reinforcement interface for realistically modeling the restrictions on moving dislocations as debonding occurs. It is found that the influence of the imposed higher-order boundary conditions at the interface is minor. If strain-gradient effects are accounted for a void with a smooth shape develops at the reinforcement interface while a smaller void having a sharp tip nucleates if strain-gradient effects are excluded. Using orthogonalization of the plastic strain gradient with three corresponding material length scales it is found that, the first length scale dominates the evaluated overall average stress–strain response, the second one only has a small effect and the third one has an intermediate effect. Finally, studies of reinforcement having elliptical cross-sections show rather significant gradients of stress which is not seen for the corresponding circular cross-sections. Also, an increased drop in the overall load carrying capacity is observed for cross-sections elongated perpendicular to the principal tensile direction compared to the corresponding circular cross-sections.     

On the strain hardening and texture evolution in high manganese steels: Experiments and numerical investigation

We present a systematic investigation on the strain hardening and texture evolution in high manganese steels where twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) plays a significant role for the materials' plastic deformation. Motivated by the stress–strain behavior of typical TWIP steels with compositions of Fe, Mn, and C, we develop a mechanistic model to explain the strain-hardening in crystals where deformation twinning dominates the plastic deformation. The classical single crystal plasticity model accounting for both dislocation slip and deformation twinning are then employed to simulate the plastic deformation in polycrystalline TWIP steels. While only deformation twinning is activated for plasticity, the simulations with samples composed of voronoi grains cannot fully capture the texture evolution of the TWIP steel. By including both twinning deformation and dislocation slip, the model is able to capture both the stress–strain behaviors and the texture evolution in Fe–Mn–C TWIP steel in different boundary-value problems. Further analysis on the strain contributions by both mechanisms suggests that deformation twinning plays the dominant role at the initial stage of plasticity in TWIP steels, and dislocation slip becomes increasingly important at large strains.     

Characterization of the post-necking strain hardening behavior using the virtual fields method

The present study aims at characterizing the post-necking strain hardening behavior of three sheet metals having different hardening behavior. Standard tensile tests were performed on sheet metal specimens up to fracture and heterogeneous logarithmic strain fields were obtained from a digital image correlation technique. Then, an appropriate elasto-plastic constitutive model was chosen. Von Mises yield criterion under plane stress and isotropic hardening law were considered to retrieve the relationship between stress and strain. The virtual fields method (VFM) was adopted as an inverse method to determine the constitutive parameters by calculating the stress fields from the heterogeneous strain fields. The results show that the choice of a hardening law which can describe the hardening behavior accurately is important to derive the true stress–strain curve. Finally, post-necking hardening behavior was successfully characterized up to the initial stage of localized necking using the VFM with Swift and modified Voce laws.     

Dual-phase steel sheets under cyclic tension–compression to large strains: Experiments and crystal plasticity modeling

In this work, we develop a physically-based crystal plasticity model for the prediction of cyclic tension–compression deformation of multi-phase materials, specifically dual-phase (DP) steels. The model is elasto–plastic in nature and integrates a hardening law based on statistically stored dislocation density, localized hardening due to geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs), slip-system-level kinematic backstresses, and annihilation of dislocations. The model further features a two level homogenization scheme where the first level is the overall response of a two-phase polycrystalline aggregate and the second level is the homogenized response of the martensite polycrystalline regions. The model is applied to simulate a cyclic tension–compression–tension deformation behavior of DP590 steel sheets. From experiments, we observe that the material exhibits a typical decreasing hardening rate during forward loading, followed by a linear and then a non-linear unloading upon the load reversal, the Bauschinger effect, and changes in hardening rate during strain reversals. To predict these effects, we identify the model parameters using a portion of the measured data and validate and verify them using the remaining data. The developed model is capable of predicting all the particular features of the cyclic deformation of DP590 steel, with great accuracy. From the predictions, we infer and discuss the effects of GNDs, the backstresses, dislocation annihilation, and the two-level homogenization scheme on capturing the cyclic deformation behavior of the material.     

Plastic behavior of a nickel-based alloy under monotonic-tension and low-cycle-fatigue loading

The plastic behavior of an annealed HASTELLOY^® C-22HS™ alloy, a face-centered cubic (FCC), nickel-based superalloy, was examined by in-situ neutron-diffraction measurements at room temperature. Both monotonic-tension and low-cycle-fatigue experiments were conducted. Monotonic-tension straining and cyclic-loading deformation were studied as a function of stress. The plastic behavior during deformation is discussed in light of the relationship between the stress and dislocation-density evolution. The calculated dislocation-density evolution within the alloy reflects the strain hardening and cyclic hardening/softening. Experimentally determined lattice strains are compared to verify the hardening mechanism at selected stress levels for tension and cyclic loadings. Combined with calculations of the dislocation densities, the neutron-diffraction experiments provide direct information about the strain and cyclic hardening of the alloy.     

Multi-axial behavior of shape-memory alloys undergoing martensitic reorientation and detwinning

Recently, a rate-independent, finite-deformation-based crystal mechanics constitutive model for martensitic reorientation and detwinning in shape-memory alloys has been developed by Thamburaja [Thamburaja, P., 2005. Constitutive equations for martensitic reorientation and detwinning in shape-memory alloys. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 53, 825–856] and implemented in the ABAQUS/Explicit [Abaqus reference manuals. 2005. Providence, RI] finite-element program. In this work, we show that the aforementioned model is able to quantitatively predict the experimental response of an initially textured and martensitic polycrystalline Ti–Ni rod under a variety of uniaxial and multi-axial stress states. By fitting the material parameters in the model to the stress–strain response in simple tension, the constitutive model predicts the stress–strain curves for experiments conducted under simple compression, torsion, proportional-loading tension–torsion, and path-change tension–torsion loading conditions to good accord. Furthermore the constitutive model also reproduces the force–displacement response for an indentation experiment to reasonable accuracy.