Void growth in high strength aluminium alloy single crystals: a CPFEM based study

Abstract

High strength aluminium alloys that are produced through forming and joining processes are widely used in aerospace components. The ductile failure in these metals occurs due to the evolution and accumulation of microscopic defects, such as microvoids and shear bands. The present work investigates the underlying physical mechanisms during ductile failure by performing a rigorous, fully-validated, three-dimensional crystal plasticity, finite element study with aluminium alloy single crystals. Representative volume element (RVE) based simulations of single crystalline aluminium alloys (AA-5xxx) with different void geometries and orientations have been performed. Both local and nonlocal crystal plasticity constitutive models have been implemented in a finite element framework and are used to seek new insights into the interrelationships among void growth, initial porosity, initial void size, plastic anisotropy, and local/nonlocal size effects.