Advanced Statistical Crystal Plasticity Model: Description of Copper Grain Structure Refinement during Equal Channel Angular Pressing

The grain structure of metals changes significantly during severe plastic deformation (SPD), and grain refinement is the main process associated with SPD at low homologous temperatures. Products made of ultrafine-grained materials exhibit improved performance characteristics and are of considerable industrial interest, which generates a need for the creation of comprehensive grain refinement models. This paper considers the integration of the ETMB (Y. Estrin, L.S. Toth, A. Molinari, Y. Brechet) model, which describes the evolution of an average cell size during deformation into the two-level statistical crystal plasticity constitutive model (CM) of FCC polycrystals. The original relations of the ETMB model and some of its modifications known from the literature were analyzed to obtain an accurate, physically admissible description of the grain refinement process. The characteristics of the grain substructure determined with the framework of the advanced ETMB model were taken into account in the CM in a hardening law. By applying the CM with the integrated ETMB model, numerical experiments were performed to simulate the changes in the grain structure of copper during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature. The results obtained are in good agreement with the experimental data. The ideas about further development of the proposed model are outlined.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the changes in the grain structure of metals during severe plastic deformation (SPD), focusing on the grain refinement process at low temperatures. The integration of the ETMB model and the statistical crystal plasticity constitutive model (CM) of FCC polycrystals is considered, aiming to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the grain refinement process. Numerical experiments using the integrated model on the grain structure changes of copper during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) show good agreement with experimental data. Further development ideas for the proposed model are also outlined.