Modeling microstructural effects on the evolution of cube texture during hot deformation of aluminum

The origin and development of cube ({0 0 1}〈1 0 0〉) texture during hot deformation and subsequent recrystallization of aluminum alloys remains a topic of considerable interest in materials research. Finite element modeling at the mesoscale was used to study the hot deformation of microstructures containing cube-oriented grains distributed among grains with S ({1 2 3}〈6 3 4〉) and copper ({1 1 2}〈1 1 1〉) orientations. 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 {1 1 0}〈1 1 0〉 systems, in addition to the usual {1 1 1}〈1 1 0〉 systems. Microstructures with different grain sizes and some special configurations for the cube grain 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. The inclination of the cube grain boundary relative to the compression axis appears to play a role in the distributions of stored energy and misorientation across the boundary.