Crystal plasticity simulations help to understand the local deformation behavior of multi-phase materials based on the microstructural attributes. The results of such simulations are mainly dependent on the Representative Volume Element (RVE) size and composition. The effect of RVE thickness on the changing global and local stress and strain is analyzed in this work for a test case of dual-phase steels in order to identify the minimal RVE thickness for obtaining consistent results. 100×100×100 voxel representative volume elements are constructed by varying grain size and random orientation distribution in DREAM-3D. The constructed RVEs are sliced in depth up to 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50 layers to construct different geometries with increasing thickness. Crystal plasticity model parameters for ferrite and martensite are taken from already published data and assigned to respective phases. Although the global stress/strain behavior of different RVEs is similar (<5 % divergence), the local stress/strain partitioning in RVEs with varying thickness and grain size shows a considerable variation when statistically compared. It is concluded that two-dimensional (2D) RVEs can be used for crystal plasticity simulations when global deformation behavior is of interest. Whereas, it is necessary to consider three-dimensional (3D) RVEs, which have a specific thickness and number of grains for determining stabilized and more accurate local deformation behavior. This estimation will help researchers in optimizing the computation time for accurate mesoscale simulations.

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In this study, DAMASK was used to model and elucidate the microstructural deformation behavior of sintered X3CrMnNi16-7-6 TRIP steel. The recently developed TRIP-TWIP material model was used within the DAMASK framework. Material optimization was performed using the least computationally expensive method, which yielded the desired results. The physical parameters of the material model were identified and tuned to fit the experimental observations. This tuned material model was used to run simulations utilizing 2D EBSD data. The local deformation, transformation, and twinning behaviors of the material under quasi-static tensile and compressive loads were analyzed. The results of this are in good agreement with previous experimental observations. The phenomena of dislocation glide, twinning, martensitic transformation, stress evolution, and dislocation pinning in different deformation stages are discussed.

In this research, the effect of 2D and 3D Representative Volume Element (RVE) on the ductile damage behavior in single-phase (only ferrite) and dual-phase (ferrite and martensite) steels is analyzed. Physical and fitting parameters of the constitutive model for bcc-ferrite and bcc-martensite phases are adapted from the already published work. Crystal plasticity (CP) based numerical simulations without damage consideration are run and, later, ductile damage criteria for the ferrite phase is defined for all cases. The results of the non-damage (-nD-) and damage (-D-) simulations are compared to analyze the global and local differences of evolving stresses and strains. It is observed that for the same model parameters defined in all cases, damage initiation occurs at the overall higher global strain in the case of 3D compared to 2D. Based on statistical data analysis, a systematic comparison of local results is carried out to conclude that the 3D RVEs provide better quantitative and qualitative results and should be considered for such full phase simulations. Whereas 2D RVEs are simple to analyze and provide appropriate qualitative information about the damage initiation sites.

Herein, micromechanical material deformation behavior of medium carbon steel—with varying cementite particle size and distribution—under monotonic tensile load is modeled. The statistical phase morphology data are collected from the microscopy images of 83% spheroidized C45EC steel. Virtual microstructures for nine different cases are constructed using Dream.3D by varying the concentrations of small, large, and bimodal cementite particles on the ferrite grain boundaries. A crystal plasticity‐based numerical simulation model, i.e., DAMASK, is used to simulate the local material deformation behavior. The material model parameters for elastic–plastic ferrite and elastic cementite phases are adopted from the literature and calibrated by modifying the fitting parameters to match the experimentally observed material flow curve. It is observed that the cementite particle size and distribution in the primary phase affect the local mechanical behavior of the material. An analysis of deformation at 20% of global strain has helped in the qualitative understanding of factors affecting the stress and strain concentration points. The evolution of stresses and strains in the least and the most stressed representative volume elements (RVEs) has provided interesting information regarding the path followed by the dislocation movement during deformation. The study has provided insight into the factors affecting the material's global and local deformation behavior.