Effect of elasticity on slip system activity in face-centered cubic crystals: A numerical study

Abstract

The effect elasticity may play on the number of active slip systems in face-centered cubic (fcc) crystals in polycrystalline metals is investigated. In this work, an elastoviscoplastic polycrystalline model is used for the analysis. The deformation in each crystal is assumed to be composed of three parts, plastic slip along crystallographic slip systems, an elastic stretch of the lattice and a rigid rotation of the lattice. It is commonly believed that for metals at large strains, the elastic part of the deformation can be neglected in many cases. It has been shown that at least five slip systems must be active to accommodate any arbitrary plastic deformation. In this study, it is shown that, with the inclusion of elasticity, the model predicts that a significant number of grains have less than five active slip systems, even at large strains. In addition, it is also found that the number of active slip systems is significantly affected by the values of the elastic constants.