Finite element modeling of crystal plasticity with grains shaped as truncated octahedrons

Different modeling strategies are tested for the prediction of texture development and microscopic strain heterogeneity in cold-rolled ULC steel and in multiphase steel under uniaxial tension. The polycrystalline aggregate is represented by a finite element mesh that is loaded under periodic boundary conditions. Grains are shaped as cubes or as truncated octahedrons, defining three levels of mesh refinement. Simulations rely on a simplified implementation of crystal plasticity, in which elastic strains are considered infinitesimal. The constitutive law is integrated fully implicitly in a reference frame bounded to the crystal lattice. Accuracy of the time-integration procedure is assessed by referring to some predictions of the crystal plasticity algorithm developed by Kalidindi et al. Crystallographic texture evolution in bulk deformation processing of FCC metals. J. Mech. Phys. Solid 40 (1992) 537–569]. Then, results of the micro–macro modeling are compared to experimental data. It is found that the simulations with truncated octahedral grains yield improved predictions compared to those with cuboidal grains.