STUDY OF TEXTURE EFFECT ON STRAIN LOCALIZATION OF BCC STEEL SHEETS

Using elastic crystalline viscoplastic finite element (FE) annlysis, the formability of BCC steel sheets was assessed. An orientation probability assignment method in the FE modeling procedure, which can be categorized as an inhomogenized material modeling, was newly proposed. In the study, the crystal orientations of three materials, mild steel, dual phase steel and the high strength steel, were obtained by X-ray diffraction and orientation distribution function (ODF) analyses. The measured ODF results have revealed clearly different textures in the sheets, featured by orientation fibers, skeleton lines and selected orientations in Euler angle space, which are closely related to the plastic anisotropy. Then, the crystal orientations were assigned to FE integration points by using this ODF data, individually. The FE analyses of the standard limiting dome height(LDH) test show how the fiber textures affect the extent of strain localization in the forming processes. It was confirmed by comparison with experimental results that this FE code could predict the extreme strain localization and assess the sheet formability. The third author is indebted to the National Natural Science Foundation of China for financial support (Grant No. 59875025) to the research cooperation with OIT, Japan.     

Effects of texture on shear band formation in plane strain tension/compression and bending

In this study, effects of typical texture components observed in rolled aluminum alloy sheets on shear band formation in plane strain tension/compression and bending are systematically studied. The material response is described by a generalized Taylor-type polycrystal model, in which each grain is characterized in terms of an elastic–viscoplastic continuum slip constitutive relation. First, a simple model analysis in which the shear band is assumed to occur in a weaker thin slice of material is performed. From this simple model analysis, two important quantities regarding shear band formation are obtained: i.e. the critical strain at the onset of shear banding and the corresponding orientation of shear band. Second, the shear band development in plane strain tension/compression is analyzed by the finite element method. Predictability of the finite element analysis is compared to that of the simple model analysis. Third, shear band developments in plane strain pure bending of a sheet specimen with the typical textures are studied. Regions near the surfaces in a bent sheet specimen are approximately subjected to plane strain tension or compression. From this viewpoint, the bendability of a sheet specimen may be evaluated, using the knowledge regarding shear band formation in plane strain tension/compression. To confirm this and to encompass overall deformation of a bent sheet specimen, including shear bands, finite element analyses of plane strain pure bending are carried out, and the predicted shear band formation in bent specimens is compared to that in the tension/compression problem. Finally, the present results are compared to previous related studies, and the efficiency of the present method for materials design in future is discussed.     

Multi-scale finite element analyses of sheet metals by using SEM-EBSD measured crystallographic RVE models

In this study, two multi-scale analyses codes are newly developed by combining a homogenization algorithm and an elastic/crystalline viscoplastic finite element (FE) method (Nakamachi, E., 1988. A finite element simulation of the sheet metal forming process. Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng. 25, 283–292; Nakamachi, E., Dong, X., 1996. Elastic/crystalline viscoplastic finite element analysis of dynamic deformation of sheet metal. Int. J. Computer-Aided Eng. Software 13, 308–326; Nakamachi, E., Dong, X., 1997. Study of texture effect on sheet failure in a limit dome height test by using elastic/crystalline viscoplastic finite element analysis. J. Appl. Mech. Trans. ASME(E) 64, 519–524; Nakamachi, E., 1998. Elastic/crystalline viscoplastic finite element modeling based on hardening–softening evaluation equation. In: Proc. of the 6th NUMIFORM, pp. 315–321; Nakamachi, E., Hiraiwa, K., Morimoto, H., Harimoto, M., 2000a. Elastic/crystalline viscoplastic finite element analyses of single- and poly-crystal sheet deformations and their experimental verification. Int. J. Plasticity 16, 1419–1441; Nakamachi, E., Xie, C.L., Harimoto, M., 2000b. Drawability assessment of BCC steel sheet by using elastic/crystalline viscoplastic finite element analyses. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 43, 631–652); (1) a “semi-implicit” finite element (FE) code and (2) a “dynamic explicit” FE code. These were applied to predict the plastic strain induced yield loci and the formability of sheet metal in the macro scale, and simultaneously the crystal texture and hardening evolutions in the micro scale. The isotropic and kinematical hardening laws are employed in the crystalline plasticity constitutive equation. For the multi-scale structure, two-scales are considered. One is a microscopic polycrystal structure and the other a macroscopic elastic plastic continuum. We measure crystal morphologies by using the SEM-EBSD apparatus with a unit of about 3.8 μm voxel, and define a three dimensional (3D) representative volume element (RVE) for the micro polycrystal structure, which satisfy the periodicity condition of crystal orientation distribution. A “micro” finite element modeling technique is newly established to minimize the total number of finite elements in the micro scale. Next, the “semi-implicit” crystallographic homogenization FE code, which employs the SEM-EBSD measured RVE, is applied to the 99.9% pure-iron uni-axial tensile problem to predict the texture evolution and the subsequent yield loci in the various strain paths. These “semi implicit” results reveal that the plastic strain induced anisotropy in the micro and macro levels can be predicted by our FE analyses. The kinematical hardening law leads a distinct plastic strain induced anisotropy. Our “dynamic-explicit” FE code is applied to simulate the limit dome height (LDH) test problem of the mild steel DQSK, the high strength steel HSLA and the aluminum alloy AL6022 sheet metals, which were adopted as the NUMISHEET2005 Benchmark sheet metals (Smith, L.M., Pourboghrat, F., Yoon, J.-W., Stoughton, T.B., 2005. NUMISHEET2005. In: Proc. of 6th Int. Conf. Numerical Simulation of 3D Sheet Metal Forming Processes, PART A and B(Benchmark), pp. 409–451) to estimate formability. The “dynamic explicit” results reveal that the initial crystal orientation distribution has a large affects to a plastic strain induced texture and anisotropic hardening evolutions and sheet formability.     

延性单晶非均匀变形的三维有限元模拟

对延性单晶在拉伸载荷作用下的应变局域化和颈缩等非均匀变形过程进行了三维有限元数值模拟。将相关晶体塑性本构模型及一种新的数值积分方法补充到ABAQUS6.1商用有限元软件中。该方法的特点是，利用晶体塑性的动力学方程，获得一个关于晶体弹性变形梯度的演化方程，采用半隐式积分方案进行求解。本文推导出一种新的应力变本构矩阵。按此方式更新本构矩阵，计算速度和计算稳定性大大提高。加载方式，边界条件和变形程度等因素影响着滑移系的启动状况，这是平面模型所不能预测的。本文利用三维有限元方法模拟了不同取向下滑移系的启动状况，全面地考虑了FCC单晶材料12个可能滑移系在变形过程中的启动状况，合理地模拟了FCC面心立方单晶沿不同取向加载时晶轴旋转导致的应变局域化和颈缩等非均匀变形过程。     

On the modelling of anisotropic material behaviour in viscoplasticity

A uniaxial viscoplastic deformation is motivated as a discrete sequence of stable and unstable equilibrium states and approximated by a smooth family of stable states of equilibrium depending on the history of the mechanical process. Three-dimensional crystal viscoplasticity starts from the assumption that inelastic shearings take place on slip systems, which are known from the particular geometric structure of the crystal. A constitutive model for the behaviour of a single crystal is developed, based on a free energy, which decomposes into an elastic and an inelastic part. The elastic part, the isothermal strain energy, depends on the elastic Green strain and allows for the initial anisotropy, known from the special type of the crystal lattice. Additionally, the strain energy function contains an orthogonal tensor-valued internal variable representing the orientation of the anisotropy axes. This orientation develops according to an evolution equation, which satisfies the postulate of full invariance in the sense that it is an observer-invariant relation. The inelastic part of the free energy is a quadratic function of the integrated shear rates and corresponding internal variables being equivalent to backstresses in order to consider kinematic hardening phenomena on the slip system level. The evolution equations for the shears, backstresses and crystallographic orientations are thermomechanically consistent in the sense that they are compatible with the entropy inequality. While the general theory applies to all types of lattices, specific test calculations refer to cubic symmetry (fcc) and small elastic strains. The simulations of simple tension and compression processes of a single crystal illustrates the development of the crystallographic axes according to the proposed evolution equation. In order to simulate the behaviour of a polycrystal the initial orientations of the anisotropy axes are assumed to be space-dependent but piecewise constant, where each region of a constant orientation corresponds to a grain. The results of the calculation show that the initially isotropic distribution of the orientation changes in a physically reasonable manner and that the intensity of this process-induced texture depends on the specific choice of the material constants.     

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).     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Forming simulation of aluminum sheets using an anisotropic yield function coupled with crystal plasticity theory

This paper describes the application of a coupled crystal plasticity based microstructural model with an anisotropic yield criterion to compute a 3D yield surface of a textured aluminum sheet (continuous cast AA5754 aluminum sheet). Both the in-plane and out-of-plane deformation characteristics of the sheet material have been generated from the measured initial texture and the uniaxial tensile curve along the rolling direction of the sheet by employing a rate-dependent crystal plasticity model. It is shown that the stress–strain curves and R-value distribution in all orientations of the sheet surface can be modeled accurately by crystal plasticity if a “finite element per grain” unit cell model is used that accounts for non-uniform deformation as well as grain interactions. In particular, the polycrystal calculation using the Bassani and Wu (1991) single crystal hardening law and experimental electron backscatter data as input has been shown to be accurate enough to substitute experimental data by crystal plasticity data for calibration of macroscopic yield functions. The macroscopic anisotropic yield criterion CPB06ex2 (Plunkett et al., 2008) has been calibrated using the results of the polycrystal calculations and the experimental data from mechanical tests. The coupled model is validated by comparing its predictions with the anisotropy in the experimental yield stress ratio and strain ratios at 15% tensile deformation. The biaxial section of the 3D yield surface calculated directly by crystal plasticity model and that predicted by the phenomenological model calibrated with experimental and crystal plasticity data are also compared. The good agreement shows the strength of the approach. Although in this paper, the Plunkett et al. (2008) yield function is used, the proposed methodology is general and can be applied to any yield function. The results presented here represent a robust demonstration of implementing microscale crystal plasticity simulation with measured texture data and hardening laws in macroscale yield criterion simulations in an accurate manner.     

Grain orientation fragmentation in hot-deformed aluminium: Experiment and simulation

Grain orientation fragmentation is studied in a set of 176 individual grains of an aluminium polycrystal deformed in plane strain compression at 400 °C to a strain of $\epsilon =1.2$. Experimental observations were made by EBSD at successive strains of 0, 0.42, 0.77 and 1.2 on the internal surface of a split sample. Statistics of the in-grain orientation spreads were computed based on approximately 3000 orientation measurements per grain. A high-resolution finite element simulation (about 1000 elements per grain) was carried out on a polycrystal whose grains were assigned the initial experimental crystal orientations. The experimental and simulation results were compared in terms of the fractions of grains that exhibit fragmentation and the lattice orientations of the fragmenting grains. The numbers of fragmented grains increase with strain, reaching values of 10% in the experiment (2-D characterization) and 20% in the simulation (3-D characterization) at $\epsilon =1.2$. For both experiment and simulation, fragmentation is more likely in grains whose lattice is symmetrically oriented with respect to the loading axes. Under plane strain compression, the orientations of the fragmented grains coincide with regions of orientation space in which the reorientation velocity field in the plane perpendicular to the reorientation velocity direction is unstable.     

Effects of spatial grain orientation distribution and initial surface topography on sheet metal necking

The finite element method is used to numerically simulate localized necking in AA6111-T4 under stretching. The measured EBSD data (grain orientations and their spatial distributions) are directly incorporated into the finite element model and the constitutive response at an integration point is described by the single crystal plasticity theory. We assume that localized necking is associated with surface instability, the onset of unstable growth in surface roughening. It is demonstrated that such a surface instability/necking is the natural outcome of the present approach, and the artificial initial imperfection necessitated by the macroscopic M–K approach [Marciniak and Kuczynski (1967). Int. J. Mech. Sci. 9, 609–620] is not relevant in the present analysis. The effects of spatial orientation distribution, material strain rate sensitivity, texture evolution, 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. It is also demonstrated that the initial surface topography has only a small influence on necking.     

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).     

On the evolution of lattice deformation in austenitic stainless steels—The role of work hardening at finite strains

In this work, a three dimensional crystal plasticity-based finite element model is presented to examine the micromechanical behaviour of austenitic stainless steels. The model accounts for realistic polycrystal micromorphology, the kinematics of crystallographic slip, lattice rotation, slip interaction (latent hardening) and geometric distortion at finite deformation. We utilise the model to predict the microscopic lattice strain evolution of austenitic stainless steels during uniaxial tension at ambient temperature with validation through in situ neutron diffraction measurements. Overall, the predicted lattice strains are in very good agreement with those measured in both longitudinal and transverse directions (parallel and perpendicular to the tensile loading axis, respectively). The information provided by the model suggests that the observed nonlinear response in the transverse {200} grain family is associated with a competitive bimodal evolution of strain during inelastic deformation. The results associated with latent hardening effects at the microscale also indicate that in situ neutron diffraction measurements in conjunction with macroscopic uniaxial tensile data may be used to calibrate crystal plasticity models for the prediction of the inelastic material deformation response.     

Numerical simulations of necking during tensile deformation of aluminum single crystals

Finite element simulations are used to study strain localization during uniaxial tensile straining of a single crystal with properties representative of pure Al. The crystal is modeled using a constitutive equation incorporating self- and latent-hardening. The simulations are used to investigate the influence of the initial orientation of the loading axis relative to the crystal, as well as the hardening and strain rate sensitivity of the crystal on the strain to localization. We find that (i) the specimen fails by diffuse necking for strain rate exponents m < 100, and a sharp neck for m > 100. (ii) The strain to localization is a decreasing function of m for m < 100, and is relatively insensitive to m for m > 100. (iii) The strain to localization is a minimum when the tensile axis is close to (but not exactly parallel to) a high symmetry direction such as [1 0 0] or [1 1 1] and the variation of the strain to localization with orientation is highly sensitive to the strain rate exponent and latent-hardening behavior of the crystal. This behavior can be explained in terms of changes in the active slip systems as the initial orientation of the crystal is varied.     

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.     

单晶体塑性滑移有限变形下的应力计算

为了探讨和发展单晶金属材料的非弹性有限变形分析方法,提出一种单晶体各向异性弹塑性分析的计算格式.该方法是一种以初始构形为变形计算参考构形的描述方法,它对单晶体塑性构形的演化用增量计算以跟随加载路径,而在应力计算时在卸载构形的基础上用Hencky对数弹性应变来计算总量的应力以保证计算的稳定和收敛;通过求解满足瞬时屈服条件和应力与弹性应变关系的广义胡克定律的非线性方程组来搜索激活滑移系.     

Inelastic behaviour of polycrystalline metals under complex loading condition

In this paper, a simple mechanical model of polycrystal is suggested on the basis of the crystal plasticity. This model incorporates interactions among grains in polycrystal and interactions among slip systems in a crystal grain component. Especially, an equation for a slip strain of slip system is based on a theory of thermo-activation motion of dislocation. In this way, the model can take into account rate (creep) properties and temperature effects as well as an induced plastic anisotropy depending on deformation path, under multi-axial condition.Some computations are done by using the model for typical sets of strain paths and compared with corresponding experimental results of aluminum alloy at 200°C. The computational results reproduce accurately typical features observed in the experiments.     

Computer simulation of tensile deformation of aluminium bicrystalline specimen by means of elasto-plastic finite element method of crystal

Based on the experimental data of strain-stress relation of single crystal and the complexity of polycrystal deformation, a calculating model is proposed and the calculating program is designed. Finally, the tensile deformation of the bicrystal aluminium specimen is simulated by means of the crystal elasto-plastic finite element method. The strain-stress curve of tension, the details of the slip deformation and the stress distribution are obtained. So the effect of the region near grain boundary is shown obviously.     

Orientation effects in nanoindentation of single crystal copper

Numerical simulations and experimental results of nanoindentation on single crystal copper in three crystallographic orientations [(1 0 0), (0 1 1) and (1 1 1)] using a spherical indenter (3.4 μm radius) were reported. The simulations were conducted using a commercial finite element code (ABAQUS) with a user-defined subroutine (VUMAT) that incorporates large deformation crystal plasticity constitutive model. This model can take full account of the crystallographic slip as well as the orientation effects during nanoindentation. Distributions of the out-of-plane displacements and shear stresses as well as shear strains were obtained for indentation depths of up to 310 nm. The experimental studies were conducted using an MTS Nano Indenter (XP) system from which the load–displacement relationships were obtained while the surface topography as well as the surface profile along a line scan of indents were obtained using a Digital Instruments (Dimension 3100) atomic force microscope (AFM). The top views of the indent pile-up patterns under the spherical indenter show two-fold, three-fold, and four-fold symmetries for the (0 1 1), (1 1 1), and (1 0 0) orientations, respectively. Attempt was made to relate the anisotropic nature of the surface topographies around the indents in different crystallographic orientations of the single crystal copper specimens with the active slip systems and local texture variations. A reasonably good agreement had been obtained on several aspects of nanoindentation between the experimental and numerical results reported in this investigation as well as similar results reported in the literature. Thus, material properties of single crystal copper can be determined based on an appropriate numerical modeling of the nanoindentation on three crystallographic orientations.