Modeling anisotropic strain hardening and deformation textures in low stacking fault energy fcc metals

The main issues and challenges involved in modeling anisotropic strain hardening and deformation textures in the low stacking fault energy (SFE) fcc metals (e.g. brass) are reviewed and summarized in this paper. The objective of these modeling efforts is to capture quantitatively the major differences between the low SFE fcc metals and the medium (and high) SFE fcc metals (e.g. copper) in the stress–strain response and the deformation textures. While none of the existing models have demonstrated success in capturing the anisotropy in the stress–strain response of the low SFE fcc metals, their apparent success in predicting the right trend in the evolution of deformation texture is also questionable. There is ample experimental evidence indicating that the physical mechanism of the transition from the copper texture to the brass texture is represented wrongly in these models. These experimental observations demonstrate clearly the need for a new approach in modeling the deformation behavior of low SFE fcc metals. This paper reports new approaches for developing crystal plasticity models for the low SFE fcc metals that are consistent with the reported experimental observations in this class of metals. The successes and failures of these models in capturing both the anisotropic strain hardening and the deformation textures in brass are discussed in detail.