Field fluctuations viscoplastic self-consistent crystal plasticity: Applications to predicting texture evolution during deformation and recrystallization of cubic polycrystalline metals

Recent advances pertaining to modeling of grain fragmentation during deformation and recrystallization of polycrystalline metals using viscoplastic self-consistent (VPSC) polycrystal plasticity are combined into a field fluctuations VPSC (FF-VPSC) model. The FF-VPSC model is a higher-order formulation calculating the second moments of lattice rotation rates based on the second moments of stress fields inside grains and resulting intragranular misorientation distributions. The misorientation distributions are used to define a grain fragmentation sub-model for improving predictions of deformation texture evolution and to formulate kinetics submodels for nucleation as well as to influence the stored energy governing grain growth for the predictions of recrystallization texture evolution. Formation of a copper-like texture in moderately high stacking fault energy (SFE) Cu and a brass-like texture in low SFE brass during rolling to very large strains are successfully predicted using the model. Remarkably, the model also predicts recrystallization textures from the deformation textures of the two metals after adjusting tradeoffs between transition-bands and grain boundary nucleation mechanisms. Additionally, rolling and recrystallization of an interstitial-free steel, tension and recrystallization of AA5182-O, and recrystallization of an additively manufacturing cobalt-based alloy MarM-509 are simulated to predict texture evolution. Through these case studies involving multiple alloys and thermo-mechanical processes we show that, in addition to being predictive with good accuracy, the key advantage of the model lies in its versatility. The FF-VPSC model, simulation results, and insights from the results are presented and discussed in this paper.