Cup drawing is a benchmark experiment frequently used to validate anisotropic constitutive models and multiscale crystal plasticity codes for yield locus prediction. Earing of the cup rim and thickness variation along the cup wall are sensitive to plastic anisotropy. This test was implemented on an industrial forming press and applied to 85 mm diameter disks of commercial AA1100, AA3103, and AA5005 alloy sheet. Cup geometry was determined using a laser probe coordinate measurement machine (CMM). Finite element models (FEM) were developed with ABAQUS Explicit software and a user-defined subroutine for the anisotropic yield locus based on the hierarchical multiscale model (HMS). As the coordinate cloud produced by the CMM is unrelated to the nodes of the deformed FEM-mesh, both were fitted to a polynomial-Fourier series expansion. After cleaning and correction of the CMM data, point-by-point comparison can be performed between model and experiment. For AA1100, the position of the ears was correctly identified but their magnitude was underestimated. Excellent coincidence was found for AA5005, with strong ears at 0 and 90°. The small ears at -30° and 30° and secondary ears at 90° were correctly predicted for AA3013.

While the grain size effect (GSE) is universally observed in polycrystalline metals and alloys, extended dislocation pileups (DPUs) at grain boundaries (GBs) are rarely observed. Although this discrepancy was noticed over 50 years ago, DPUs are still widely accepted as the explanation for the GSE, often expressed as the Hall-Petch (HP) relationship. To provide a quantitative assessment of the pileup hypothesis, four classical pileup models were compared to three sets of numerical calculations, spanning a grain size range from 25 nm to 25mm. To do so, the stress field and Peach-Köhler force for short dislocation segments and circular dislocation loops were calculated as closed-form expressions and simplified to the case of pileups. Published values for the Hall-Petch constant provide the reference for estimating the critical tip stress for transmission of plastic strain from one grain to its neighbour. The results are compared in terms of consistency between models and between models and experiments. Different assumptions on the pileup geometry induce important variations in the results. Tendencies found in the numerical models resemble the trends marked in compilations of experimental results; predicted values for dislocation density and plastic shear upon yielding disagree with commonly accepted values. Added to the scarceness of experimental observation, the analysis indicates that DPUs play a role in polycrystal plasticity but do not consistently explain the GSE.

This work analyses the effect of annealing conditions on tribolayer formation in copper under dry sliding conditions. Cold rolled material and samples annealed during 15, 30 and 45 min at 600 °C show an increase in grain size, decrease in hardness and increase in toughness and ductility with time. Electron backscattered diffraction maps describe the severe plastic deformation of a nanostructured tribolayer. Friction coefficients decrease with annealing times, while surface damage diminishes. Wear is lower in the softer material. This is explained by the energy required to produce surface damage, in combination with the energy transmitted to the substrate by friction.

This work studies the ultrafine subsurface layer produced in Al-Sn and Cu alloys in contact with AISI9840 steel. The tribological tests were conducted at room temperature without lubrication in a coaxial tribometer. A first microstructural characterization was performed using conventional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Grain refinement mapping was performed by means of Electron Backscattering Diffraction (EBSD). The wear process, during which tribolayers are formed, leads to significant differences between the structure of the sub-micrometrical layer below the tribolayer and that of the bulk. SEM images show severe mechanical mixing in the surface of the worn zones, whereas EBSD observations allow identifying the mechanically homogenized layers as a sub-micro-crystalline material with a cellular structure aligned along the sliding direction.