Microstructural effects on yield surface evolution in cubic metals using the viscoplastic φ-model

Polyaystalline yield surfaces of metals are a good way to characterize the anisotropy of plastic deformation. The evolution of these surfaces is impossible to accurately reproduce without taking into account the evolution of the material microstructure such as texture development. In this paper, a numerical computation of yield surfaces using the viscoplastic phi-model is proposed. Results concerning face-centered cubic metals subjected to a plane strain compression test are presented. The influence of several mechanical parameters (strain hardening, strain rate sensitivity coefficient and accumulated deformation) on subsequent yield surfaces evolution is studied. The analysis of the change in the shape and size of the yield surfaces shows that the results depend strongly on the parameter phi which controls the strength of the interactions in the polycrystal. In addition, the predictions are compared to the widely used viscoplastic self-consistent model as well as to experimental yield loci taken from the literature for various aluminum alloy sheets. A fairly good qualitative agreement between our phi-model results and the experimental ones is found. The probable links between the parameter phi and the microstructural features such as the stacking fault energy and the grain size of the polycrystal are also briefly discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.