A New Finite Element Method for Predicting Anisotropy of Steels

Scientists from the theory group in the Department for Microstructure Physics and Metal Forming at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung in Düsseldorf in Germany have developed a new finite element method for the prediction of elastic–plastic anisotropy during steel forming. The novelty of the approach consists in merging formerly separated concepts from metal physics, crystallography, and variational mathematics. The method is referred to as texture component crystal plasticity finite element method (TCCP-FEM). The new approach is based on the direct integration of a small set of spherical crystallographic orientation components into a non-linear finite element model. It allows for the first time to integrate fundamental theory from the fields of crystallography and crystal plasticity into the theoretical treatment of the microscopic and macroscopic behavior of steels at reasonable computation times. The method is hence particularly suited in industrial context for instance for predicting the mechanical properties of novel steels for light-weight constructions