A phenomonological plasticity model with non-normality effects representing observations in crystal plasticity. (Q5939628)

Recent experiments on multiaxial plasticity of metal polycrystals have shown that the normality rule, i.e. the fact that the direction of plastic flow is normal to the yield surface, may not be respected during abrupt changes of strain path. This is in contrast to the crystal plasticity mechanisms in the grains of a polycrystal, which are based on Schmid law and associated plasticity. Homogenization theorems prove that the resulting behaviour fulfils the normality requirement. However, this normality is only valid at initial yield, i.e. for the yield surface defined by a vanishingly small offset. For larger offsets considered in practical applications, computations show that the Taylor polycrystal model displays a clear non-normality. The vertex-type response on the smooth yield surface is actually a result of a blunted vertex moving with the current stress point. The present work aims at constructing a simple phenomenological model that includes the apparent non-normality effects exhibited by polycrystal plasticity and confirmed by experiments. For that purpose, the authors propose a model based on a smooth yield surface with a plastic flow rule governed by vertex-type effects at each point of the yield surface. The non-normality is characterized by a scalar-valued function, independent of hardening, giving the angle between the plastic flow direction and the normal to the smooth yield surface. The parameters are calibrated from crystal plasticity simulations of biaxial stretching tests with an abrupt strain loading path change. The validation of the model is made for the prediction of forming limit diagrams using a local necking criterion very sensitive to vertex-type effects.