Mesodamage Evolution in Polycrystals

Abstract

A micromechanical model of damaged elasto-inelastic behavior is proposed to predict the plastic fatigue life for fcc metallic polycrystals under multiaxial loading paths. This model is expressed in the time-dependent plasticity for a small strain assumption. In order to generalize and then to increase the model applicability (with respect to other works of the author) in describing the cyclic stress-strain evolution during plastic fatigue, it is therefore assumed that a damage variable initiates and then evolves at the grain level where the phenomenon of the localized plastic deformation occurs. The associated thermodynamic force of the damage variable is determined as a total granular energy (elastic and inelastic). The transition of the elastic strain from the single to the polycrystal, which is classically performed by averaging procedures in this type of modeling, is modified due to the coupling of such a strain with damage. The developed model is tested under different multiaxial cyclic loading situations (tension-compression and tension-torsion with different out-of-phase angles). The effects the loading paths and the grains aggregate type on the fatigue life are appropriately investigated. It is demonstrated that the model can correctly describe the overall and local damaged behavior of polycrystals.