Mesoscale simulation of static recrystallization of hot deformed austenite in a low carbon steel

The static recrystallization of hot deformed austenite in a low carbon steel was simulated by coupling a cellular automaton (CA) approach with a crystal plasticity finite element model (CPFEM) on mesoscale. The local stored energy of deformation simulated by CPFEM was incorporated in the CA model as the driving force for subsequent recrystallization nucleation and grain growth. The effect of the inhomogeneous distribution of the stored energy on the static recrystallization was involved, which was difficult for the traditional recrystallization CA models. The simulated results revealed that the density of recrystallization nucleation varied in different sites due to the inhomogeneous distribution of stored energy, and the nuclei concentrated both at the grain boundaries and in the heavily deformed grain interiors. The number of recrystallized nuclei increased and the distribution of the nucleation inclined to homogeneity with decreasing critical stored energy for nucleation. In addition, the recrystallization kinetics under various nucleation criteria was also discussed.