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.     

PREDICTION OF EARING IN TEXTURED ALUMINIUM SHEETS BASED ON CRYSTAL PLASTICITY

The phenomenon of earing is investigated in the present study based on the theory of crystal plasticity with the dynamic explicit finite element program developed. Firstly texture analysis is carried out of rolled aluminium alloy Al5052 by means of X-ray technique. Then from the texture coefficients an analytical expression for the orientation distribution function (ODF) is derived making use of the computer algebraic language Mathematica4.0, which makes it easier to discretize the ODF into a series of Eulerian angles representing the distribution of lattices and further the preferred orientation (texture) of crystals of the original sheets. For the polycrystal model, the material is described using crystal plasticity where each material point in grains with each grain modelled as an FCC crystal with 12 distinct slip systems. The modified Taylor theory of crystal plasticity is used and only the initial texture is taken into consideration during large plastic deformation. Numerical simulation of earing has been performed for an aluminium sheet with texture and one with crystals exhibiting random distribution to demonstrate the effect of texture of materials on their plastic anisotropy and formability. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 59875025).     

Continuum modeling of the response of a Mg alloy AZ31 rolled sheet during uniaxial deformation

Lightweight magnesium alloys, such as AZ31, constitute alternative materials of interest for many industrial sectors such as the transport industry. For instance, reducing vehicle weight and thus fuel consumption can actively benefit the global efforts of the current environmental industry policies. To this end, several research groups are focusing their experimental efforts on the development of advanced Mg alloys. However, comparatively little computational work has been oriented towards the simulation of the micromechanisms underlying the deformation of these metals. Among them, the model developed by Staroselsky and Anand [Staroselsky, A., Anand, L., 2003. A constitutive model for HCP materials deforming by slip and twinning: application to magnesium alloy AZ31B. International Journal of Plasticity 19 (10), 1843–1864] successfully captured some of the intrinsic features of deformation in Magnesium alloys. Nevertheless, some deformation micromechanisms, such as cross-hardening between slip and twin systems, have been either simplified or disregarded. In this work, we propose the development of a crystal plasticity continuum model aimed at fully describing the intrinsic deformation mechanisms between slip and twin systems. In order to calibrate and validate the proposed model, an experimental campaign consisting of a set of quasi-static compression tests at room temperature along the rolling and normal directions of a polycrystalline AZ31 rolled sheet, as well as an analysis of the crystallographic texture at different stages of deformation, has been carried out. The model is then exploited by investigating stress and strain fields, texture evolution, and slip and twin activities during deformation. The flexibility of the overall model is ultimately demonstrated by casting light on an experimental controversy on the role of the pyramidal slip 〈c + a〉 versus compression twinning in the late stage of polycrystalline deformation, and a failure criterion related to basal slip activity is proposed.     

A dislocation density-based single crystal constitutive equation

Single crystal constitutive equations based on dislocation density (SCCE-D) were developed from Orowan’s strengthening equation and simple geometric relationships of the operating slip systems. The flow resistance on a slip plane was computed using the Burger’s vector, line direction, and density of the dislocations on all other slip planes, with no adjustable parameters. That is, the latent/self-hardening matrix was determined by the crystallography of the slip systems alone. The multiplication of dislocations on each slip system incorporated standard 3-parameter dislocation density evolution equations applied to each slip system independently; this is the only phenomenological aspect of the SCCE-D model. In contrast, the most widely used single crystal constitutive equations for texture analysis (SCCE-T) feature 4 or more adjustable parameters that are usually back-fit from a polycrystal flow curve. In order to compare the accuracy of the two approaches to reproduce single crystal behavior, tensile tests of single crystals oriented for single slip were simulated using crystal plasticity finite element modeling. Best-fit parameters (3 for SCCE-D, 4 for SCCE-T) were determined using either multiple or single slip stress–strain curves for copper and iron from the literature. Both approaches reproduced the data used for fitting accurately. Tensile tests of copper and iron single crystals oriented to favor the remaining combinations of slip systems were then simulated using each model (i.e. multiple slip cases for equations fit to single slip, and vice versa). In spite of fewer fit parameters, the SCCE-D predicted the flow stresses with a standard deviation of 14 MPa, less than one half that for the SCCE-T conventional equations: 31 MPa. Polycrystalline texture simulations were conducted to compare predictions of the two models. The predicted polycrystal flow curves differed considerably, but the differences in texture evolution were insensitive to the type of constitutive equations. The SCCE-D method provides an improved representation of single-crystal plastic response with fewer adjustable parameters, better accuracy, and better predictivity than the constitutive equations most widely used for texture analysis (SCCE-T).     

Rate-independent crystalline and polycrystalline plasticity,application to FCC materials

This paper deals with the simulation of the mechanical response and texture evolution of cubic crystals and polycrystals for a rate-independent elastic–plastic constitutive law. No viscous effects are considered. An algorithm is introduced to treat the difficult case of multi-surface plasticity. This algorithm allows the computation of the mechanical response of a single crystal. The corresponding yield surface is made of the intersection of several hyper-planes in the stress space. The problem of the multiplicity of the slip systems is solved thanks to a pseudo-inversion method. Self and latent hardening are taken into account. In order to compute the response of a polycrystal, a Taylor homogenization scheme is used. The stress–strain response of single crystals and polycrystals is computed for various loading cases. The texture evolution predicted for compression, plane strain compression and simple shear are compared with the results given by a visco-plastic polycrystalline model.     

Plasticity size effects in voided crystals

The shear and equi-biaxial straining responses of periodic voided single crystals are analysed using discrete dislocation plasticity and a continuum strain gradient crystal plasticity theory. In the discrete dislocation formulation, the dislocations are all of edge character and are modelled as line singularities in an elastic material. The lattice resistance to dislocation motion, dislocation nucleation, dislocation interaction with obstacles and annihilation are incorporated through a set of constitutive rules. Over the range of length scales investigated, both the discrete dislocation and strain gradient plasticity formulations predict a negligible size effect under shear loading. By contrast, under equi-biaxial loading both plasticity formulations predict a strong size dependence with the flow strength approximately scaling inversely with the void spacing. Excellent agreement is obtained between predictions of the two formulations for all crystal types and void volume fractions considered when the material length scale in the non-local plasticity model is chosen to be (about 10 times the slip plane spacing in the discrete dislocation models).     

Ultrasonic characterization of point defects induced by cross slip under pure shear

Longitudinal wave velocity is used to characterize the point defects in crystalline solids. High purity Al single crystal was selected for both the finite element analysis and experimental work. Since the jog motions of dislocations caused by intersected slides such as cross slips induce point defects, the total amount of cross slips was calculated instead of calculating directly from the point defects. The effect of crystal orientations on total amount of cross slips under pure shear was also investigated via the finite element method. The result suggest that if the initial shear stress direction is located at the inner side of stereographic triangle, only single slip activities occurred at the beginning of plastic deformation and no effects due to point defects were present. However, as the shear stress direction rotates along the slip direction, point defects are induced by cross slips between primary and secondary slip systems due to work-hardening. This phenomenon was then examined by measuring longitudinal wave velocity changes propagating in Al single crystal subjected to the combination loads of equi-biaxial tension and compression (a pure shear state). Good qualitative agreement between the finite element result and measured data suggest that the longitudinal wave velocity can be used as an index to characterize point defects in crystalline materials.     

Incorporation of twinning into a crystal plasticity finite element model: Evolution of lattice strains and texture in Zircaloy-2

A crystal plasticity finite element code is developed to model lattice strains and texture evolution of HCP crystals. The code is implemented to model elastic and plastic deformation considering slip and twinning based plastic deformation. The model accounts for twinning reorientation and growth. Twinning, as well as slip, is considered to follow a rate dependent formulation. The results of the simulations are compared to previously published in situ neutron diffraction data. Experimental results of the evolution of the texture and lattice strains under uniaxial tension/compression loading along the rolling, transverse, and normal direction of a piece of rolled Zircaloy-2 are compared with model predictions. The rate dependent formulation introduced is capable of correctly capturing the influence of slip and twinning deformation on lattice strains as well as texture evolution.     

Crystal-plasticity finite-element analysis of inelastic behavior during unloading in a magnesium alloy sheet

A crystal-plasticity finite-element analysis of the loading-unloading process under uniaxial tension of a rolled magnesium alloy sheet was carried out, and the mechanism of the inelastic response during unloading was examined, focusing on the effects of basal and nonbasal slip systems. The prismatic and basal slip systems were mainly activated during loading, but the activation of the prismatic slip systems was more dominant. Thus the overall stress level during loading was determined primarily by the prismatic slip systems. The prismatic slip systems were hardly activated during unloading because the stress level was of course lower than that during loading. On the other hand, because the strength of the basal slip systems was much lower than that of the prismatic slip systems, the basal slip systems would be easily activated under the stress level during unloading in the opposite direction when their Schmid’s resolved shear stresses changed signs because of the inhomogeneity of the material. These results indicated that one explanation for the inelastic behavior during unloading was that the basal slip systems were primarily activated owing to their low strengths compared to that of the prismatic slip systems. Numerical tests using the sheets with random orientations and with the more pronounced texture were conducted to further examine the mechanism.     

A peridynamic implementation of crystal plasticity

This paper presents the first application of peridynamics theory for crystal plasticity simulations. A state-based theory of peridynamics is used (Silling et al., 2007) where the forces in the bonds between particles are computed from stress tensors obtained from crystal plasticity. The stress tensor at a particle, in turn, is computed from strains calculated by tracking the motion of surrounding particles. We have developed a quasi-static implementation of the peridynamics theory. The code employs an implicit iterative solution procedure similar to a non-linear finite element implementation. Peridynamics results are compared with crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) analysis for the problem of plane strain compression of a planar polycrystal. The stress, strain field distribution and the texture formation predicted by CPFE and peridynamics were found to compare well. One particular feature of peridynamics is its ability to model fine shear bands that occur naturally in deforming polycrystalline aggregates. Peridynamics simulations are used to study the origin and evolution of these shear bands as a function of strain and slip geometry.     

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.     

The role of superdislocations for modeling plastic deformation of lamellar TiAl

The deformation behaviour of lamellar TiAl-alloys is investigated by means of micromechanical finite element simulations. For the simulations, a lower and an upper bound periodic unit cell representing the lamellar substructure are used. Crystallographic slip is described by continuum crystal plasticity. For the simulations, 16 individual ordinary, super, and twinning systems divided into three morphological slip modes are taken into account. The strength and hardening parameters of the slip systems are determined by comparison with experimental data from room temperature compression tests of poly-synthetically twinned (PST) crystals of TiAl. The effect of the yield stress of the superdislocations is investigated by systematic parameter variations. The results show that the general anisotropy of PST-crystals can already be described with a purely morphological classification of the slip systems. Superdislocations cause a slight tension–compression anomaly if the yield stresses are higher than for the ordinary and twinning systems.     

A dislocation density based crystal plasticity finite element model: Application to a two-phase polycrystalline HCP/BCC composites

We present a multiscale model for anisotropic, elasto-plastic, rate- and temperature-sensitive deformation of polycrystalline aggregates to large plastic strains. The model accounts for a dislocation-based hardening law for multiple slip modes and links a single-crystal to a polycrystalline response using a crystal plasticity finite element based homogenization. It is capable of predicting local stress and strain fields based on evolving microstructure including the explicit evolution of dislocation density and crystallographic grain reorientation. We apply the model to simulate monotonic mechanical response of a hexagonal close-packed metal, zirconium (Zr), and a body-centered cubic metal, niobium (Nb), and study the texture evolution and deformation mechanisms in a two-phase Zr/Nb layered composite under severe plastic deformation. The model predicts well the texture in both co-deforming phases to very large plastic strains. In addition, it offers insights into the active slip systems underlying texture evolution, indicating that the observed textures develop by a combination of prismatic, pyramidal, and anomalous basal slip in Zr and primarily {110}〈111〉 slip and secondly {112}〈111〉 slip in Nb.     

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.     

On the coupling of plastic slip and deformation-induced twinning in magnesium: A variationally consistent approach based on energy minimization

The present paper is concerned with the analysis of the deformation systems in single crystal magnesium at the micro-scale and with the resulting texture evolution in a polycrystal representing the macroscopic mechanical response. For that purpose, a variationally consistent approach based on energy minimization is proposed. It is suitable for the modeling of crystal plasticity at finite strains including the phase transition associated with deformation-induced twinning. The method relies strongly on the variational structure of crystal plasticity theory, i.e., an incremental minimization principle can be derived which allows to determine the unknown slip rates by computing the stationarity conditions of a (pseudo) potential. Phase transition associated with twinning is modeled in a similar fashion. More precisely, a solid-solid phase transition corresponding to twinning is assumed, if this is energetically favorable. Mathematically speaking, the aforementioned transition can be interpreted as a certain rank-one convexification. Since such a scheme is computationally very expensive and thus, it cannot be applied to the analysis of a polycrystal, a computationally more efficient approximation is elaborated. Within this approximation, the deformation induced by twinning is decomposed into the reorientation of the crystal lattice and simple shear. The latter is assumed to be governed by means of a standard Schmid-type plasticity law (pseudo-dislocation), while the reorientation of the crystal lattice is considered, when the respective plastic shear strain reaches a certain threshold value. The underlying idea is in line with experimental observations, where dislocation slip within the twinned domain is most frequently seen, if the twin laminate reaches a critical volume. The resulting model predicts a stress-strain response in good agreement with that of a rank-one convexification method, while showing the same numerical efficiency as a classical Taylor-type approximation. Consequently, it combines the advantages of both limiting cases. The model is calibrated for single crystal magnesium by means of the channel die test and finally applied to the analysis of texture evolution in a polycrystal. Comparisons of the predicted numerical results to their experimental counterparts show that the novel model is able to capture the characteristic mechanical response of magnesium very well.     

Modeling of deformation and rotation bands and of deformation induced grain boundaries in IF steel aggregate during large plane strain compression

A computation using crystal plasticity modeling of an actual IF steel aggregate plane strain compression deformation, underlines the formation of different deformation bands morphologies and grain splitting occurrence, already experimentally observed by different authors. The model based on dislocation densities as internal variables, developed in the framework of finite deformation and implemented in the Finite Element Method, is able to capture the main characteristics of different inhomogeneities and to analyze their formation and further development with strain, from the determination of the active and latent slip systems, and also from the quantification of their dislocation densities and corresponding glide rates evolutions. The respective boundary conditions and material properties effects are discussed.     

Finite element modeling of tube hydroforming of polycrystalline aluminum alloy extrusions

Finite element modeling of tube hydroforming requires information about the anisotropy of the extruded aluminum tube. Unlike sheet metals, the complex geometry of extruded tubes makes it difficult, except in extrusion direction, to directly measure material properties. Therefore, polycrystalline models provide a good alternative for calculating the anisotropy of the tube in all directions and under various loading conditions. Using a rate-independent single crystal yield surface and rigid plasticity, a Taylor-type polycrystalline model was developed and implemented into ABAQUS/Explicit finite element (FE) code using VUMAT. The constitutive model was then used to calculate the crystallographic texture evolution during the hydroforming of an extruded aluminum tube. Initial crystallographic texture measured using orientation imaging microscopy (OIM) and uniaxial tensile test data obtained along the extrusion direction were input to this FEA model. In order to efficiently and practically simulate the tube hydroforming process using the polycrystalline model, sensitivity to the number of grain orientation, total simulation time, and number of finite elements were studied. Predicted results agreed very well with experimentally measured strain obtained from tube hydroforming process.     

A theoretical investigation of the influence of dislocation sheets on evolution of yield surfaces in single-phase B.C.C. polycrystals

Accurate and reliable predictions of yield surfaces and their evolution with deformation require a better physical representation of the important sources of anisotropy in the material. Until recently, the most physical approach employed in the current literature has been the use of polycrystalline deformation models, where it is assumed that crystallographic texture is the main contributor to the overall anisotropy. However, recent studies have revealed that the grain-scale mesostructural features (e.g. cell-block boundaries) may have a large impact on the anisotropic stress-strain behaviour, as evidenced during strain-path change tests (e.g. cross effect, Bauschinger effect).In previous papers, the authors formulated an extension of the Taylor-type crystal plasticity model by incorporating some details of the grain-scale mesostructural features. The main purpose of this paper is to study the evolution of yield surfaces in single-phase b.c.c. polycrystals during deformation and strain-path changes using this extended crystal plasticity model. It is demonstrated that the contribution of the grain-scale substructure in these metals on yield loci is comparable in magnitude to the effects caused by the differences in texture. Furthermore, it is shown that the shape of yield loci cannot be predicted accurately by the traditional polycrystalline deformation model with equal slip hardening. The trends predicted by the extended crystal plasticity model are in much better agreement with the experimental evidence reported in the literature than those represented in classical treatments by isotropic and kinematic hardening.     

Dynamic crystal plasticity: An Eulerian approach

In this paper an Eulerian rate-dependent single crystal model that accounts for high-strain rates, large strains and rotations is developed. The viscoplastic law as well as the evolution equations for the lattice are written in terms of vectorial and tensorial quantities associated with the current configuration. The viscoplastic law is obtained from Schmid law using an overstress approach. Such an expression for the viscoplastic law is motivated by the microdynamics of crystal defects. A general analysis of the plane-strain response of the proposed rigid-viscoplastic single crystal model is presented. It is shown that only one differential equation, involving the orientation of one composite in-plane slip system, is necessary to describe the lattice evolution. Several two-dimensional boundary value problems, such as equal-channel die extrusion and channel die compression are selected to illustrate the predictive capabilities of the model. The results show that even at relatively low strain rates the viscosity plays an important role in the development of localized deformation modes. At high crosshead velocity, the plastic properties and crystal anisotropy are less important while inertia effects are dominant. Finally, the grains interaction is investigated by analyzing the compression of a grains multicrystal.     

含冷却孔镍基合金次级取向效应的应变梯度晶体塑性有限元研究

单晶镍基合金具有优异的耐高温、高强、高韧等性能, 这些力学性能受制造过程引入的次级取向和冷却孔的影响. 已有研究大多关注单孔薄板的变形机理和力学性能, 而工程中应用的往往是多孔薄板, 当前亟需阐明多孔的塑性滑移带变形机理、次级取向效应以及冷却孔引起的应变梯度效应. 文章采用基于位错机制的非局部晶体塑性本构模型对含冷却孔镍基单晶薄板的单拉变形进行了数值模拟. 此模型基于塑性滑移梯度与几何必需位错的关系引入了位错流动项, 因此可有效刻画非均匀变形过程中的应变梯度效应. 为了全面揭示含孔镍基薄板的次级取向效应, 系统研究了[100]和[110]取向(两种次级取向)下镍基薄板的单拉变形行为, 并重点探究了在两种次级取向下冷却孔数量对薄板塑性行为的影响. 此外, 还分析了镍基合金板变形过程中各个滑移系上分切应力变化、主导滑移系开动以及几何必需位错密度的演化过程, 并讨论了塑性滑移量及其分布特征对不同次级取向镍基合金板强度的影响. 研究表明, 单孔和多孔的[110]薄板抗拉强度均低于[100]薄板, 多孔薄板的塑性变形过程比单孔薄板更为复杂且受次级取向影响更大, 并且发生滑移梯度位置主要位于冷却孔附近以及塑性滑移带区域. 研究结果可为工程中镍基合金的设计和服役提供理论指导.