Nanoindentation behaviour simulation of a polycrystalline NiTi shape memory alloy using the crystal plastic finite element method

Abstract

Polycrystalline NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) are inevitably involved in plastic deformation under the action of an external force, thus significantly affecting the mechanical behaviour of materials. To deeply understand the plastic deformation mechanism of the NiTi SMA at 400 ℃, the representative volume element (RVE) model combined with the crystal plastic finite element method and the improved Voronoi algorithm were used to construct a three-dimensional polycrystalline spherical nanoindentation model for studying the contribution of different slip systems to the plastic deformation. The calculation results show that the constructed polycrystalline model can well match the experimental curve of the macroscopic stressstrain response curve of the polycrystalline NiTi SMA; the nanoindentation curve also confirms this result. Based on the constructed 3D polycrystalline nanoindentation model, three slip systems ({110}<100>, {010}<100>and {110}<111>) were introduced at the same time. According to the average cumulative shear strain calculated during the indentation process, the results show that the {110}<111> slip system provides the largest contribution to plastic deformation, and the {010}<100>slip mode provides the smallest contribution. The elastic modulus of the model was calculated using the Oliver-Pharr method, and the calculated results are consistent with the experimental results, which proves the validity of the model.