Mesoscale simulation research on the homogenized elasto-plastic behavior of FeCrAl alloys

Iron chromium aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys have been considered as a promising candidate in nuclear power applications. In order to accelerate the advanced fabrication of these alloys, it is necessary to perform numerical simulations to predict the macroscale mechanical properties for FeCrAl alloys. In this study, modified crystal plasticity models and stress update algorithm are proposed to describe the deformation behavior of single crystals. Computational homogenization methods for polycrystalline aggregates are provided to obtain the macroscopic properties from the mesoscale stress and strain fields in the representative volume element (RVE). The involved models and algorithms are implemented in ABAQUS with a self-written VUMAT subroutine, and validated with experimental data. The homogenized elasto-plastic curves for FeCrAl alloys are numerically obtained, which match well with the experimental results for different alloy compositions, grain sizes and processing conditions. The relations of the shear-rate model parameters with the compositions, microstructures and processing conditions of FeCrAl alloys are discussed. The research results indicate that the phenomenological shear-rate model and the modified crystal plasticity models can be adopted in Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) to achieve the multi-scale simulation of polycrystalline mechanical performances. The simulation results could also provide a reference for the optimization of FeCrAl alloys.