Strain Gradient Polycrystal Plasticity for Micro-Forming

The developments in the micro-device industry has produced a substantial demand for the miniaturized metallic components with ultra-thin sheet materials that have thickness dimensions on the order of 50-500 mu m which are produced through micro-forming processes. It is essential to have predictive tools to simulate the constitutive behavior of the materials at this length scale taking into account the physical and statistical size effect. Recent studies have shown that on the scale of several micrometers and below, crystalline materials behave differently from their bulk equivalent due to micro-structural effects (e.g. grain size, lattice defects and impurities), gradient effects (e.g. lattice curvature due to a non-uniform deformation field) and surface constraints (e.g. hard coatings or free interfaces). These effects could lead to stronger or weaker material response depending on the size and unique micro-structural features of the material. In this paper a plastic slip based strain gradient crystal plasticity model is used to address the effect of microstructural features (e.g. grain size, orientation and the number of grains) on the macroscopic constitutive response and the local behavior of polycrystalline materials.