Simulating Heterogeneous Deformation in Polycrystalline Metals using Crystal Plasticity Finite Element Method

Abstract

This article provides a general review of fundamentals of crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) and its application in simulating heterogeneous deformation in polycrystalline environment. CPFEM is an important simulation tool for microstructurebased mechanical process prediction, and engineering design involving anisotropic metal material media. Besides a brief discussion of the constitutive laws and kinematics of CPFEM, several of its applications in different deformation processes have also been reviewed, including the uniaxial tension of columnar-grain aluminum, the uni-axial tension of polycrystalline copper, and the four-point bending of polycrystalline titanium, etc. These simulations have all been compared with detailed experimental measurements to validate the accuracy of the applied model.