An experimental study of the effect of hardening on plastic deformation at notch tips in metallic single crystals

Experiments to measure the effect of hardening on the plastic deformation field near a notch tip in metallic single crystals were conducted. The specimens were cut from pure Cu and a CuBe alloy (with 1.8-2.0 wt% Be) FCC single crystals. The Cu-2.0wt%Be alloy was selected because its initial hardness and rate of hardening can be modified by heat treatment. The Vickers hardness of the specimens ranged from 87 to , while the hardening exponents ranged between 10 and 4.5. The experimental results were compared to analytical and numerical solutions from the literature. This comparison shows that the inclusion of elastic regions in the analytical solutions and anisotropic hardening in the numerical solutions results in better agreement with the experiments.     

Prediction and observation of crack tip microstructure in shape memory CuAlNi single crystals

The formation of martensite at a notch tip in a CuAlNi shape memory alloy loaded in tension is studied. The geometry of the initial martensite plate to form at the notch is predicted theoretically, using the stress field at a crack tip in an anisotropic linearly elastic body together with a listing of all possible austenite-martensite interfaces from the Crystallographic Theory of Martensite (CTM). The stress field and CTM analyses are combined through a selection criterion based on computing the work available from the stress field to transform to each austenite-martensite interface. The resulting predictions are compared to experimentally observed microstructures in notched specimens of single crystal CuAlNi loaded in tension for eight notch orientations. Results show that the available work criterion accurately predicts the orientation, number and order of the austenite-martensite interfaces that initially form near a crack.     

Heterogeneous deformation in ductile FCC single crystals in biaxial stretching: the influence of slip system interactions

The heterogeneity of deformation in ductile FCC single crystals is investigated by both numerical simulations and an analytic approach. The constitutive behaviour is based on a generalized storage recovery model and takes into account the interactions between slip systems previously obtained by dislocation dynamics simulations. In biaxial stretching, the simulations show the activation of a large number of slip systems and their localization in mutually excluding zones. As a result, a microstructure of lamellar type is formed in the early stages of the deformation. These numerical results are complemented by a linear stability analysis showing that the heterogeneous deformation pattern is triggered by instability modes of the single crystal. Furthermore, the interaction matrix is playing a key role as the partition is found to originate from slip system interactions. The partition is driven by the strongest interaction, which is in most cases the collinear interaction. A comparison with an experimental study in simple shear yields useful information about how to check the respective strength of some interactions. The collinear interaction is not involved in that case, but its effect can be verified by reproducing the experiment on a crystal with a different orientation.     

A numerical study of crack tip constraint in ductile single crystals

In this work, the effect of crack tip constraint on near-tip stress and deformation fields in a ductile FCC single crystal is studied under mode I, plane strain conditions. To this end, modified boundary layer simulations within crystal plasticity framework are performed, neglecting elastic anisotropy. The first and second terms of the isotropic elastic crack tip field, which are governed by the stress intensity factor K and T-stress, are prescribed as remote boundary conditions and solutions pertaining to different levels of T-stress are generated. It is found that the near-tip deformation field, especially, the development of kink or slip shear bands, is sensitive to the constraint level. The stress distribution and the size and shape of the plastic zone near the crack tip are also strongly influenced by the level of T-stress, with progressive loss of crack tip constraint occurring as T-stress becomes more negative. A family of near-tip fields is obtained which are characterized by two terms (such as K and T or J and a constraint parameter Q) as in isotropic plastic solids.     

Active slip-band separation and the energetics of slip in single crystals

This research supports recent efforts to provide an energetic approach to the prediction of stress–strain relations for single crystals undergoing single slip and to give precise formulations of experimentally observed connections between hardening of single crystals and separation of active slip-bands. Non–classical, structured deformations in the form of two-level shears permit the formulation of new measures of the active slip-band separation and of the number of lattice cells traversed during slip. A formula is obtained for the Helmholtz free energy per unit volume as a function of the shear without slip, the shear due to slip, and the relative separation of active slip-bands in a single crystal. This formula is the basis for a model, under preparation by the authors, of hardening of single crystals in single slip that is consistent with the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect and the existence of a critical resolved shear stress.     

A cyclic plasticity model for single crystals

The Armstrong–Frederick type kinematic hardening rule was invoked to capture the Bauschinger effect of the cyclic plastic deformation of a single crystal. The yield criterion and flow rule were built on individual slip systems. Material memory was introduced to describe strain range dependent cyclic hardening. The experimental results of copper single crystals were used to evaluate the cyclic plasticity model. It was found that the model was able to accurately describe the cyclic plastic deformation and properly reflect the dislocation substructure evolution. The well-known three distinctive regimes in the cyclic stress–strain curve of the copper single crystals oriented for single slip can be reproduced by using the model. The model can predict the enhanced hardening for crystals oriented for multislip, showing the model's ability to describe anisotropic cyclic plasticity. For a given loading history, the model was able to capture not only the saturated stress–strain response but also the detailed transient stress–strain evolution. The model was used to predict the cyclic plasticity under a high–low loading sequence. Both the stress–strain responses and the microstructural evolution can be appropriately described through the slip system activation.     

Orientation evolution in Hadfield steel single crystals under combined slip and twinning

The tensile deformation response and texture evolution of aluminum alloyed Hadfield steel single crystals oriented in the 〈1 6 9〉 direction is investigated. In this material, the strain hardening response is governed by the high-density dislocation walls (HDDWs) that interact with glide dislocations. A microstructure-based visco-plastic self-consistent model was modified to account for mechanical twinning in addition to the prevailing contribution of the HDDWs. Simulations revealed the contribution of twinning to the overall work hardening at the later stages of deformation. Moreover, both the deformation response and the rotation of the loading axis associated with plastic flow are successfully predicted even at the high-strain levels attained (0.53). Predicting the texture evolution serves as a separate check for validating the model, motivating its utilization in single and polycrystals of other alloys that exhibit combined HDDWs and twinning.     

HILL屈服准则与晶体塑性模型对FCC单晶材料塑性各向异性描述能力的比较

采用宏观HILL模型和晶体塑性模型对面心立方单晶(FCC)材料的非均匀交形进行了数值模拟，意在比较两种不同尺度的模型对塑性各向异性的描述能力的差异。为了使两种模型具有可比性，对于FCC单晶材科，本文提出一种用晶体塑性模型来确定HILL模型中各向异性参数的标定方法。数值分析表明，两类模型对单晶体塑性各向异性的描述能力存在着差异。对FCC单晶材料，HILL模型对各向异性的预测能力没有晶体塑性模型细致，晶体塑性模型更能追踪塑性各向异性的变化。但两种模型对应力应变响应预测的趋势是一致的。对两种模型描述的差异，做了详细的分析。     

The near tip stress and strain fields in cracked single crystals

The numerical analyses of stationary mathematically sharp Mode I crack in FCC and BCC crystals with elastic-ideally plastic (EIP) and fast hardening saturation (FHS) law are carried out in the present paper. From the calculated results, it is shown that: for the cases of small strain, EIP crystal cracks, the features of concentrated deformation patterns and the stress state in near-crack tip deformation fields are identical to the earlier analytical solutions, but along the angular sector boundaries, there exist narrow complex stress zones. The overall characteristics of deformation patterns for the cases of EIP and FHS are similar. The behaviours of crack tip opening can be characterized by crack-tip-opening-displacement (CTOD). For the case of FHS, finite deformation BCC crystal crack, our calculations are qualitatively in agreement with recent experimental observations. The project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Plane constrained shear of single crystal strip with two active slip systems

Within continuum dislocation theory the plane constrained shear of a single crystal strip with two active slip systems is considered. An analytical solution is found for symmetric double slip which exhibits the energetic and dissipative thresholds for dislocation nucleation, the Bauschinger translational work hardening, and the size effects. Comparison with discrete dislocation simulations shows good agreement between the discrete and continuum approaches. Numerical procedures in the general case of non-symmetric double slip are proposed.     

Wedge indentation into elastic-plastic single crystals. 2: Simulations for face-centered cubic crystals

The asymptotic stress and deformation fields associated with the contact point singularity of a nearly-flat wedge indenter impinging on a specially-oriented single face-centered cubic crystal are derived analytically in a companion paper. In order to investigate the extent of the asymptotic fields, the indentation process is simulated numerically using single crystal plasticity. The quasistatically translating asymptotic fields consist of four angular elastic sectors separated by plastically deforming sector boundaries, as predicted in the companion paper. The asymptotic stress distributions are in accord with the analytical predictions. In addition, simulations are performed for a wedge indenter with a 90° included angle in order to investigate the consequences of finite deformation and finite lattice rotation. Several salient features of the deformation field for the nearly-flat indenter persist in the deformation field for the 90° wedge indenter. The existence of the salient features is validated by comparison to experimental measurements of the lower bound on geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) densities.     

The size dependence of micro-toughness in ductile fracture

Micro-toughness in ductile fracture is defined as the plastic work dissipated per unit fracture surface area in the material separation processes of void growth and coalescence. A micromechanics model for the estimation of the size dependence of micro-toughness in ductile fracture is presented. Size effects are incorporated in the model using the conventional mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity (CMSG) theory. A finite element model of an axisymmetric representative unit cell with an initial spherical void is used to validate model predictions. Two characteristic length scales emerge from the model. The initial void radius sets the scale for the initial spherical void growth. For the subsequent void coalescence, the scale is set by the width of the intervoid ligament. Energy dissipation in ductile fracture is found to be dominated by the mechanisms of coalescence, and the micro-toughness in ductile fracture is found to be size dependent for dimple sizes approximately one order of magnitude larger than the material length scale.     

Size effects on void growth in single crystals with distributed voids

The effect of void size on void growth in single crystals with uniformly distributed cylindrical voids is studied numerically using a finite deformation strain gradient crystal plasticity theory with an intrinsic length parameter. A plane strain cell model is analyzed for a single crystal with three in-plane slip systems. It is observed that small voids allow much larger overall stress levels than larger voids for all the stress triaxialities considered. The amount of void growth is found to be suppressed for smaller voids at low stress triaxialities. Significant differences are observed in the distribution of slips and on the shape of the deformed voids for different void sizes. Furthermore, the orientation of the crystalline lattice is found to have a pronounced effect on the results, especially for the smaller void sizes.     

A yield function for single crystals containing voids

A yield function for single crystals containing voids has been developed based on a variational approach. This first yield function is phenomenologically extended by modifying the dependence on the mean stress and introducing three adjustable parameters. Unit cell finite element calculations are performed for various stress triaxiality ratios, main loading directions and porosity levels in the case of a perfectly plastic FCC single crystal. The three model parameters are adjusted on the unit cell calculations so that a very good agreement between simulation results and the proposed model is obtained.     

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.     

A new integration algorithm for finite deformation of thermo-elasto-viscoplastic single crystals

An algorithm for integrating the constitutive equations in thermal framework is presented, in which the plastic deformation gradient is chosen as the integration variable. Compared with the classic algorithm, a key feature of this new approach is that it can describe the finite deformation of crystals under thermal conditions. The obtained plastic deformation gradient contains not only plastic defor- mation but also thermal effects. The governing equation for the plastic deformation gradient is obtained based on ther- mal multiplicative decomposition of the total deformation gradient. An implicit method is used to integrate this evo- lution equation to ensure stability. Single crystal 1 100 aluminum is investigated to demonstrate practical applications of the model. The effects of anisotropic properties, time step, strain rate and temperature are calculated using this integration model.     

Dynamical evolution of fracture process region in ductile materials

The aim of this paper is to investigate the dynamics of evolving finite fracture process regions in ductile material taking into account the dislocation motion.     

Cylindrical void in a rigid-ideally plastic single crystal III: Hexagonal close-packed crystal

The analytical solution is derived for the plane strain stress field around a cylindrical void in a hexagonal close-packed single crystal with three in-plane slip systems oriented at the angle π/3 with respect to one another. The critical resolved shear stress on each slip system is assumed to be equal. The crystal is loaded by both internal pressure and a far-field equibiaxial compressive stress. The deformation field takes the form of angular sectors, called slip sectors, within which only one slip system is active; the boundaries between different sectors are radial lines. The stress fields are derived by enforcing equilibrium and a rigid, ideally plastic constitutive relationship, in the spirit of anisotropic slip line theory. The results show that each slip sector is divided into smaller regions denoted as stress sectors and the stress state valid within each stress sector is derived. It is shown that stresses are unique and are continuous within stress sectors and across stress sector boundaries, but the gradient of stresses is not continuous across the boundaries between stress sectors. The solution shows self-similarity in that the stresses over the entire domain can be determined from the stresses within a small region adjacent to the void by invoking certain scaling and symmetry properties. In addition, the stress state exhibits periodicity along logarithmic spirals which emanate from the void. The results predict that the mean value of in-plane pressure required to activate plastic deformation around a void in a single crystal can be higher than that necessary for a void in an isotropic material and is sensitive to the orientation of the slip systems relative to the void.     

Wedge indentation into elastic-plastic single crystals, 1: Asymptotic fields for nearly-flat wedge

Asymptotic stress and deformation fields under the contact point singularities of a nearly-flat wedge indenter and of a flat punch are derived for elastic ideally-plastic single crystals with three effective in-plane slip systems that admit a plane strain deformation state. Face-centered cubic (FCC), body-centered cubic (BCC), and hexagonal-close packed (HCP) crystals are considered. The asymptotic fields for the flat punch are analogous to those at the tip of a stationary crack, so a potential solution is that the deformation field consists entirely of angular constant stress plastic sectors separated by rays of plastic deformation across which stresses change discontinuously. The asymptotic fields for a nearly-flat wedge indenter are analogous to those of a quasistatically growing crack tip fields in that stress discontinuities can not exist across sector boundaries. Hence, the asymptotic fields under the contact point singularities of a nearly-flat wedge indenter are significantly different than those under a flat punch. A family of solutions is derived that consists entirely of elastically deforming angular sectors separated by rays of plastic deformation across which the stress state is continuous. Such a solution can be found for FCC and BCC crystals, but it is shown that the asymptotic fields for HCP crystals must include at least one angular constant stress plastic sector. The structure of such fields is important because they play a significant role in the establishment of the overall fields under a wedge indenter in a single crystal. Numerical simulations—discussed in detail in a companion paper—of the stress and deformation fields under the contact point singularity of a wedge indenter for a FCC crystal possess the salient features of the analytical solution.