Investigation of the competition between void coalescence and macroscopic strain localization using the periodic homogenization multiscale scheme

In most voided metallic materials, the failure process is often driven by the competition between the phenomena of void coalescence and plastic strain localization. This paper proposes a new numerical approach that allows an accurate description of such a competition. Within this strategy, the ductile solid is assumed to be made of an arrangement of periodic voided unit cells. Each unit cell, assumed to be representative of the voided material, may be regarded as a heterogeneous medium composed of two main phases: a central primary void surrounded by a metal matrix, which can itself be assumed to be voided. The mechanical behavior of the unit cell is then modeled by the periodic homogenization multiscale scheme. To predict the occurrence of void coalescence and macroscopic strain localization, the above multiscale scheme is coupled with several relevant criteria and indicators (among which the bifurcation approach and an energy-based coalescence criterion). The proposed approach is used for examining the occurrence of failure under two loading configurations: loadings under proportional stressing (classically used in unit cell computations to study the effect of stress state on void growth and coalescence), and loadings under proportional in-plane strain paths (traditionally used for predicting forming limit diagrams). It turns out from these numerical investigations that macroscopic strain localization acts as precursor to void coalescence when the unit cell is proportionally stressed. However, for loadings under proportional in-plane strain paths, only macroscopic strain localization may occur, while void coalescence is not possible. Meanwhile, the relations between the two configurations of loading are carefully explained within these two failure mechanisms. An interesting feature of the proposed numerical strategy is that it is flexible enough to be applied for a wide range of void shapes, void distributions, and matrix mechanical behavior. To illustrate the broad applicability potential of the approach, the effect of secondary voids on the occurrence of macroscopic strain localization is investigated. The results of this analysis reveal that the presence of secondary voids promotes the occurrence of macroscopic strain localization, especially for positive strain-path ratios. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.