A Crystal Plasticity Investigation of Grain Size-Texture Interaction in Magnesium Alloys

Abstract

This work investigates the microstructure-property linkages in magnesium (Mg) with an emphasis on understanding interaction effects between the grain size, texture, and loading orientation. A single crystal plasticity framework endowed with experimentally informed micro Hall-Petch type relations for the activation thresholds for slip and twinning is adopted to resolve polycrystalline microstructures over a broad texture-grain size space. The macroscopic trends from the simulations corroborate with experiments. The synergistic effects of microstructural engineering on the micromechanical characteristics are mapped, which reveal their role in the emergent macroscopic behaviors. The simulations indicate that for tempered twinning with grain refinement it is not necessary for the crystallographic size effect on twinning to be stronger than slip. While grain refinement and textural weakening reduce the net plastic anisotropy and tension-compression asymmetry they are sensitive to loading orientation. The results provide insight into the roles that engineered Mg microstructures may play in their damage behavior.