On constitutive modeling of aluminum alloys for tube hydroforming applications

The increased interest in lightweight materials for automotive structures has also lead to a search for efficient forming methods that suit these materials. One attractive concept is to use hydroforming of aluminum tubes. The advantages of this forming method includes better tolerances, decreased number of parts and an increased range of forming options. By using FE simulations, the process can be optimized to reduce the risk for failure, i.e. bursting or wrinkling. However, extruded aluminum is highly anisotropic and it is crucial that the material model used for simulations is able to accurately describe this behavior. Also, tube hydroforming occurs predominantly in a biaxial stress state which should be considered in the material testing, where uniaxial tests are used extensively in the industry today. The present study accentuates the need for improved constitutive models. It is shown that a material model, which accurately describes the anisotropic behavior of aluminum tubes, can be obtained from simple and robust experiments.     

Characterizing texture in polycrystalline materials by ultrasonic waves

A method for characterizing texture from measurements of ultrasonic wave velocities is proposed. In polycrystalline aggregates, ultrasonic wave velocities are strongly affected by orientation distribution coefficients (ODCs), which are usually used to describe the degree of preferred grain orientation in textured materials. In this work, velocities of longitudinal and transverse waves propagating into aluminum alloy 6061 were measured under pure shear, simple shear and uniaxial tension. From the measured ultrasonic wave velocities, the ODCs W₄₀₀ and W₄₂₀ were calculated to infer the deformation-induced texture. The predicted pole figures, obtained using ultrasonic velocities, were in good qualitative agreement with the finite element polycrystal model analyzed pole figures.     

Propagation and scattering of ultrasonic waves in polycrystals with arbitrary crystallite and macroscopic texture symmetries

A general ultrasonic attenuation model for a polycrystal with arbitrary macroscopic texture and triclinic ellipsoidal grains is described with proper accounting for the anisotropic Green’s function for the reference medium. The texture and the ellipsoidal grain frames in the model are independent and the wave propagation direction is arbitrary. The attenuation coefficients are obtained in the Born approximation accompanied by the Rayleigh and stochastic asymptotes. The scattering model displays statistical anisotropy due to two independent factors: (1) shape of the oriented grains and (2) preferred crystallographic orientation of the grains leading to macroscopic anisotropy of the homogenized reference medium. The model is applicable to most single phase polycrystalline materials that may occur as a result of thermomechanical manufacturing processes leading to different macrotextures and elongated-shaped grains. It predicts the strength of ultrasonic scattering and its dependence on frequency and propagation direction as a function of grain shape, grain crystallographic symmetry and macroscopic texture parameters and provides the texture-induced dependence of macroscopic ultrasonic velocity on propagation angle. It considers proper wave polarizations due to macroscopic anisotropy and scattering-induced transformations of waves with different polarizations. Competing effects of grain shape and texture on the attenuation are observed. In contrast to the macroscopically isotropic case, where in the stochastic regime the attenuation is highest in the direction of the longest ellipsoidal axis of the grain, the wave attenuation in the elongation direction may be suppressed or amplified by the texture with different effects on the quasilongitudinal and quasitransverse waves. The frequency behavior is also interestingly affected by texture: a hump in the total attenuation coefficient is found for the fast quasitransverse wave which is purely the result of macroscopic anisotropy and the existence of two quasitransverse waves; this hump is not observed in the macroscopically isotropic case. Striking differences of the texture effect on the directional dependences of the attenuation coefficients are found at low versus high frequencies.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF NON-PLANAR PLASTIC ANISOTROPY OF COLD ROLLING POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIALS

The plastic anisotropy of sheet metal is usually caused by preferred orientation of grains, developed by mechanical deformation and thermal treatment. In the present study, a Taylor-like polycrystal model suggested by Asaro and Needleman is applied to investigate the evolution of the anisotropic behavior of a face centered cubic (FCC) polycrystalline metal, which is considered having {111} (110) slip systems, by stretching it along an arbitrary direction after it has undergonea plane-strata compression that rationally simulates the cold rolling process of FCC polycrystalline pure aluminium. By using the Taylor-like polycrystal model, pole figures are obtained to describe the texture development of polycrystalline aggregate after plane-strain compression, and then the plastic anisotropy of polycrystalline aggregate is evaluated by stretching the polycrystalline aggregate in different direction in term of yield stress. According to the results, the contours of longitudinal flow stress in three-dimensional orientation space are given and analyzed. Experiment results similar to the prediction of planar anisotropy can be found inthe literature written by Takahashi et al. that in directly show the correctness of the prediction of non-planar plastic anisotropy by this analysis.     

Multiscale analysis of the transverse properties of Ti-based matrix composites reinforced by SiC fibres: from the grain scale to the macroscopic scale

It is well known that the presence of continuous fibres in SiC/Ti composites leads to a high mechanical anisotropy of the composite between the longitudinal and the two transverse directions. But it is also possible that the crystallographic texture of the matrix may lead to a non-negligible anisotropy of the mechanical properties of the composite. The crystallographic orientation of the matrix grains was determined using the Electron BackScattering Diffraction technique. A local texture of the matrix of the composite is thus evidenced. Finite Element calculations are used to determine the stress field in the matrix resulting from an applied transverse loading. The representative mechanical quantities thus determined are discussed in relation with the fundamental mechanisms of plastic deformation of the matrix. Finally, the crystallographic texture of the matrix of the composite is taken into account in the numerical modellings using a three-scale model that combines crystal plasticity, a polycrystalline aggregate model and a periodic homogenization through a Finite Element unit cell for the composite analysis.     

A novel yield function for single crystals based on combined constraints optimization

A novel yield function representing the overall plastic deformation in a single crystal is developed using the concept of optimization. Based on the principle of maximum dissipation during a plastic deformation, the problem of single crystal plasticity is first considered as a constrained optimization problem in which constraints are yield functions for slip systems. To overcome the singularity that usually arises in solving the above problem, a mathematical technique is used to replace the above constrained optimization problem with an equivalent problem which has only one constraint. This single constraint optimization problem, the so-called combined constraints crystal plasticity (CCCP) model, is implemented into a finite element code and the results of modeling the uniaxial tensions of the single crystal copper along different crystallographic directions and also hydroforming of aluminum tubes proved the capability of the proposed CCCP model in accurately predicting the deformation in polycrystalline materials.     

整体壁板挤压模应力分析和提高强度的措施

 铝型材整体壁板断面宽高比大(50~100以上)、形状复杂、精度 高、壁薄以及外形轮廓与长度尺寸大等特点决定了其在大型挤压机上 采用扁挤压筒进行挤压的生产方式. 扁挤压筒的设计与制造是大型铝 合金型材挤压最为重要的关键技术，因此对其进行应力分析十分必要. 利用ANSYS有限元方法比较分析了扁挤压筒和圆挤压筒的受力特点，还 提出了提高扁挤压筒强度的具体措施.     

织构可调塑性本构模型标定及其应用

提出了利用率相关晶体塑性模型标定织相可调本构模型的求解步骤,得出了一组依赖于晶粒间相互作用假设而独立于具体板材织构的本构相关系数.以此为基础再结合板材织构系数所得出的本构模型系数可避免出现屈服面非外凸的情形.利用所提求解步骤对在不同热处理条件下产生不同织构的AL5052铝合金板的深拉成形过程进行了有限元模拟.结果再现了典型织构在板材成形过程中所出现的塑性各向异性,从而表明求解步骤的可行性.     

A methodology for measuring and modeling crystallographic texture gradients in processed alloys

The explicit representation of internal material structure in alloy processing and in-service performance simulations is becoming increasingly prevalent. This paper presents a methodology for characterizing and representing a spatially-varying orientation distribution function (ODF) that can be used in processing and performance simulations for alloys containing texture gradients. We use thick AA 7050 aluminum plate, which is known to contain texture gradients, as a case study to demonstrate the methodology, which employs a finite element representation of the ODF initialized using individual lattice orientation measurements taken using the electron backscatter pattern (EBSP) technique. As expected, we find that the texture varies significantly through the plate thickness. We use the ODF to examine the effect of the varying texture on the resulting yield strength distribution as embodied by the average Taylor factor. We find that the predicted yield strength anisotropy is different at different locations through the thickness of the plate. We examine the optimal number of orientation measurements necessary for determining the ODF in the presence of this texture gradient. We find that as we increase the number of orientations, the ODF quickly becomes stable but eventually starts to change under the influence of the texture gradient. We also investigate spatial interpolation of the ODF using the finite element representation. We find that, as with finite element representations of other fields, interpolation accuracy depends on the variation of the field variable and the discretization of the domain. In this case, gradients in both physical space and orientation space affect the accuracy of the interpolation. Finally, the effects of the texture gradient on the mechanical response of the material is demonstrated by employing the ODFs taken from various locations through the thickness of the plate in polycrystal plasticity simulations of uniaxial tension and plane strain compression.     

Microstructure-based crystal plasticity modeling of cyclic deformation of Ti–6Al–4V

Ti–6Al–4V is a dual phase material with range of possible complex microstructures. It is well known that mechanical behavior of Ti–6Al–4V is significantly affected by its texture and microstructure morphology. A three-dimensional microstructure-based constitutive model for monotonic and cyclic deformation of duplex Ti–6Al–4V is developed and implemented. The model includes length scale effects associated with dislocation interactions with different microstructure features, and is calibrated using polycrystalline finite element simulations to fit the measured macroscopic responses (overall stress–strain behavior) of a duplex heat treated Ti–6Al–4V alloy subjected to a complex cyclic loading history. Representative microstructures are simulated using a three-dimensional finite element mesh with periodic boundary conditions imposed in all directions. The measured orientation and misorientation distributions of grains of this duplex Ti–6Al–4V are considered, and similar probability density distributions of the crystallographic orientations are assigned to the finite element mesh. The misorientation distributions are then fit using the simulated annealing method. Effects of microstructural features are examined and compared with the experimental data in terms of their influence on the material yield strength. The results are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental observations.     

Cyclic thermomechanical behavior of a polycrystalline pseudoelastic shape memory alloy

In this work, 3D finite element modeling is employed to examine the thermomechanical behavior of a polycrystalline Ni-Ti shape memory alloy in the pseudoelastic regime. It is shown that the tension-compression asymmetry during uniaxial cyclic loading is due to a preferred orientation of the crystallographic texture. In pure shear loading, the thermomechanical behavior exhibits symmetry in both senses of shear, due to the fiber texture of the specimen bar stock. It is also shown that the apparent strain rate-dependence is due to thermomechanical coupling with latent heat generation/absorption during phase transformation.     

Crystal plasticity based analysis of localized necking in aluminum tube under internal pressure

The finite element method is used to numerically simulate localized necking in aluminum alloy tube under internal pressure. The measured electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data are directly incorporated into the finite element model and the constitutive response at an integration point is described by the single crystal plasticity theory. The tube is assumed sufficiently long, so that length changes as well as the end effects can be ignored and a plane strain analysis can be performed. Localized necking is assumed to be associated with surface instability, the onset of unstable thinning. It is demonstrated that such a surface instability/necking is the natural outcome of the present approach, and an artificial initial imperfection required by other approaches is not necessary in the present analysis. The effects of spatial grain orientation distribution, material strain rate sensitivity, work hardening, and initial surface topography on necking are discussed. It is found that localized necking depends strongly on both the initial texture and its spatial orientation distribution, while the initial surface topography has a negligible effect on necking.     

Modeling transients in the mechanical response of copper due to strain path changes

When copper is deformed to large strains its texture and microstructure change drastically, leading to plastic anisotropy and extended transients when it is reloaded along a different strain path. For predicting these transients, we develop a constitutive model for polycrystalline metals that incorporates texture and grain microstructure. The directional anisotropy in the single crystals is considered to be induced by variable latent hardening associated with cross-slip, cut-through of planar dislocation walls, and dislocation-based reversal mechanisms. These effects are introduced in a crystallographic hardening model which is, in turn, implemented into a polycrystal model. This approach successfully explains the flow response of OFHC Cu pre-loaded in tension (compression) and reloaded in tension (compression), and the response of OFHC Cu severely strained in shear by equal channel angular extrusion and subsequently compressed in each of the three orthogonal directions. This new theoretical framework applies to arbitrary strain path changes, and is fully anisotropic.     

Investigating the limits of polycrystal plasticity modeling

A material model which describes the rate-dependent crystallographic slip of FCC metals has been implemented into a quasistatic, large deformation, nonlinear finite element code developed at Sandia National Laboratories. The resultant microstructure based elastic–plastic deformation model has successfully performed simulations of realistic looking 3-D polycrystalline microstructures generated using a Potts-model approach. These simulations have been as large as 50,000 elements composed of 200 randomly oriented grains. This type of model tracks grain orientation and predicts the evolution of sub-grains on an element by element basis during deformation of a polycrystal. Simulations using this model generate a large body of informative results, but they have shortcomings. This paper attempts to examine detailed results provided by large scale highly resolved polycrystal plasticity modeling through a series of analyses. The analyses are designed to isolate issues such as rate of texture evolution, the effect of mesh refinement and comparison with experimental data. Specific model limitations can be identified with lack of a characteristic length scale and oversimplified grain boundaries within the modeling framework.     

Texture gradient simulations for extrusion and reversible rolling of FCC metals

A texture simulation method is described for some complex plane strain deformation paths during hot shaping of FCC metals. The method employs both finite element calculations and a polycrystal plasticity model based on the Relaxed-Constraints (RC) Taylor hypothesis and a viscoplastic constitutive law. We have considered the {111}<110> slip systems and the {100}, {110}, {112} <110> non-octahedral slip systems. The finite element codes simulate the strain paths of material flow during a shaping process. The local velocity gradients, expressed in the macroscopic reference coordinates, are rewritten in the local flow line coordinates using a kinematic analysis for steady-state flow. Secondly, for the different deformation paths, the RC polycrystal plasticity model is used to numerically simulate the local deformation texture evolutions as a function of depth. Texture simulations are carried out for two deformation processes combining hot compression and shear: extrusion and reversible rolling. For extrusion, the simulated pole figures and ODFs show the typical texture variations through the thickness of an extruded 6082 aluminium alloys, i.e. (β-fibre in the centre and a TD rotated copper component near the surface. It is shown that hot reversible rolling should develop a strong pure shear texture {001}<110> near the surface.     

A finite element model of ferroelastic polycrystals

A finite element model of switching in polycrystalline ferroelastic ceramics is developed. It is assumed that a crystallite switches if the reduction in mechanically driven potential energy of the system exceeds a critical value per unit volume of switching material. Stress induced (i.e. ferroelastic) switching is a change of permanent strain in characteristic crystallographic directions. Martensitic twinning is one example, but the strain response of ferroelectric materials has the same characteristics. The model is suitable for representing ferroelastic systems such as shape memory alloys and as a preliminary model for ferroelectric/ferroelastic materials such as perovskite piezoelectrics. In the simulations, each crystallite is represented by a finite element and the crystallographic principal direction for each crystallite is assigned randomly. Different critical values for the energy barrier to switching are selected to simulate stress vs strain hysteresis loops of a ceramic lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) at room temperature. The measured stress versus strain curves of polycrystalline ceramics designated PZT-A and PZT-B are also reproduced by the model.     

The role of texture in tension–compression asymmetry in polycrystalline NiTi

The purpose of the present study is to thoroughly understand the stress–strain behavior of polycrystalline NiTi deformed under tension versus compression. To do this, a micro-mechanical model is used which incorporates single crystal constitutive relationships and experimentally measured polycrystalline texture into the self-consistent formulation. For the first time it is quantitatively demonstrated that texture measurements coupled with a micro-mechanical model can accurately predict tension/compression asymmetry in NiTi shape memory alloys. The predicted critical transformation stress levels and transformation stress–strain slopes under both tensile and compressive loading are consistent with experimental results. For textured polycrystalline NiTi deformed under tension it is demonstrated that the martensite evolution is very abrupt, consistent with the Luders type deformation experimentally observed. The abrupt transformation under tension is attributed to the fact that the majority of the grains are oriented along the [111] crystallographic direction, which is soft under tensile loading. Since single crystals of the [111] orientation are hard under compression it is also demonstrated that under compression the martensite in textured polycrystalline NiTi evolves relatively slower.