Crystal plasticity-based forming limit prediction for non-cubic metals: Application to Mg alloy AZ31B

A viscoplastic crystal plasticity model is incorporated within the Marciniak–Kuczynski (M–K) approach for forming limit curve prediction. The approach allows for the incorporation of crystallographic texture-induced anisotropy and the evolution of the same. The effects of mechanical twinning on the plastic response and texture evolution are also incorporated. Grain-level constitutive parameters describing the temperature dependent behavior of hexagonal close packed Mg alloy, AZ31B, sheets at discrete temperatures are used as a first application of the model. A trade-off between significant strain hardening behavior at lower temperatures (∼150 °C), and significant strain rate hardening at higher temperatures (∼200 °C) lead to similarities in the predicted forming limits. The actual formability of this alloy depends strongly on temperature within this range, and this distinction with the current modeling is related to more localized instability-based failure mechanisms at the lower temperatures than is assumed in the M–K approach. It is shown that the strain path dependence in the strain hardening response is significant and that it influences the forming limits in a predictable way. For broader applicability, a means of incorporating dynamic recrystallization into the crystal plasticity model is required.