Simulation of Deformation Twinningin Extruded AZ31 Mg AlloyBarsusing the Crystal Plasticity FEM

Abstract

Uniaxial compression tests on extruded AZ31 Mg alloy bars were carried out to investigate the evolution of deformation twins and deformation texture during plastic deformation. Electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis was used to examine the orientation of parent grains and twin bands in AZ31 Mg alloy under uniaxial compression. A crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) that takes both crystallographic slip and deformation twinning into consideration was applied to simulate the spatial distribution of the relative amount of slip and twin activities in the AZ31 Mg alloy under uniaxial compression. All EBSD scan data was directly mapped onto quasi 3-D finite element meshes for the initial configuration. By using a direct mapping technique for the EBSD data, the CPFEM captured the heterogeneity of the slip and twin activities in the AZ31 Mg alloy under uniaxial compression. The validity of the proposed theoretical methodology was demonstrated using a comparison of simulated results from experimental observation.