Modeling cyclic deformation of HSLA steels using crystal plasticity

High strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, used in a wide variety of applications as structural components are subjected to cyclic loading during their service lives. Understanding the cyclic deformation behavior of HSLA steels is of importance, since it affects the fatigue life of components. This paper combines experiments with finite element based simulations to develop a crystal plasticity model for prediction of the cyclic deformation behavior of HSLA-50 steels. The experiments involve orientation imaging microscopy (OIM)for microstructural characterization and mechanical testing under uniaxial and stress-strain controlled cyclic loading. The computational models incorporate crystallographic orientation distributions from the OIM data. The crystal plasticity model for bcc materials uses a thermally activated energy theory for plastic flow, self and latent hardening, kinematic hardening, as well as yield point phenomena. Material parameters are calibrated from experiments using a genetic algorithm based minimization process. The computational model is validated with experiments on stress and strain controlled cyclic loading. The effect of grain orientation distributions and overall loading conditions on the evolution of microstructural stresses and strains are investigated.