Incorporating grain-level residual stresses and validating a crystal plasticity model of a two-phase Ti-6Al-4 V alloy produced via additive manufacturing

Abstract

Titanium alloys, produced via additive manufacturing techniques, offer tremendous benefits over conventional manufacturing processes. However, there is inherent uncertainty associated with their properties, often stemming from the variability in the manufacturing process itself along with the presence of residual stresses in the material, which prevents their use as critical components. This work investigates Ti-6Al-4 V produced via selective laser melting by carrying out crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) simulations and high-resolution digital image correlation (HR-DIC) on samples subject to cyclic loading. This is preceded by detailed material characterization using electron backscatter diffraction, back-scattered electron imaging and transmission electron microscopy, whose results are utilized to inform the CPFE model. A method to incorporate the effect of grain-level residual stresses via geometrically necessary dislocations is developed and implemented within the CPFE framework. Using this approach, grain level information about residual stresses obtained spatially over the region of interest, directly from the experimental material characterization, is utilized as an input to the model. Simulation results match well with HR-DIC and indicate that prior β boundaries play an important role in strain localization. In addition, possible sites for damage nucleation are identified, which correspond to regions of high plastic strain accumulation.