A virtual laboratory based on full-field crystal plasticity simulation to characterize the multiscale mechanical properties of AHSS

In this work, we proposed a virtual laboratory based on full-field crystal plasticity (CP) simulation to track plastic anisotropy and to calibrate yield functions for multiphase metals. The virtual laboratory, minimally, only requires easily accessible EBSD data for constructing the highly-resolved microstructural representative volume element and macroscopic flow stress data for identifying the micromechanical parameters of constituent phases. An inverse simulation method based on a global optimization scheme was developed to identify the CP parameters, and a nonlinear least-squares method was employed to calibrate yield functions. Mechanical tests of advanced high strength steel sheet under various loading conditions were conducted to validate the virtual laboratory. Three well-known yield functions, the quadratic Hill48 and non-quadratic Yld91 and Yld2004-18p yield functions, were selected as the validation benchmarks. All the studied functions, calibrated by numerous stress points of arbitrary loading conditions, successfully captured both the deformation and strength anisotropies. The full-field CP modeling correlated well the microscopic deformation mechanism and plastic heterogeneity with the macromechanical behavior of the sheet. The proposed virtual laboratory, which is readily extended with physically based CP models, could be a versatile tool to explore and predict the mechanical property and plastic anisotropy of advanced multiphase materials.

Automated summary

In this study, we proposed a virtual laboratory based on full-field crystal plasticity simulation to track plastic anisotropy and calibrate yield functions for multiphase metals. The virtual laboratory utilizes easily accessible EBSD data and macroscopic flow stress data to construct microstructural representative volume elements and identify micromechanical parameters. The virtual laboratory was validated through mechanical tests on advanced high strength steel sheet. The proposed virtual laboratory can be a versatile tool for exploring and predicting mechanical properties and plastic anisotropy.