Application of mesoscale finite element simulations to study the evolution of cube texture during hot deformation of aluminum

The origin and development of cube ({001}〈100〉) texture during hot deformation and subsequent recrystallization of aluminum alloys remains a topic of considerable interest in materials research. The application of finite element modeling at the mesoscale to study the hot deformation of microstructures containing cube oriented grains distributed among grains with S ({123}〈634〉) and copper ({112}〈111〉) orientations is described. Discretization of each grain with a large number of elements enables the model to capture the heterogeneous deformation of individual grains. The constitutive response of the material is modeled using crystal plasticity, thereby enabling the prediction of texture evolution in the microstructure. The deformation at elevated temperatures has been modeled by including slip on the non-octahedral {110}〈110〉 systems, in addition to the usual {111}〈110〉 systems. Microstructures with different grain sizes have been deformed in plane strain compression, The effects of the local environment, grain size and plastic strain on the stability of the cube texture during hot deformation are examined.