A combined experimental-numerical approach for elasto-plastic fracture of individual grain boundaries

The parameters for a crystal plasticity finite element constitutive law were calibrated for the aluminum–lithium alloy 2198 using micro-column compression testing on single crystalline volumes. The calibrated material model was applied to simulations of micro-cantilever deflection tests designed for micro-fracture experiments on single grain boundaries. It was shown that the load–displacement response and the local deformation of the grains, which was measured by digital image correlation, were predicted by the simulations. The fracture properties of individual grain boundaries were then determined in terms of a traction–separation-law associated with a cohesive zone. This combination of experiments and crystal plasticity finite element simulations allows the investigation of the fracture behavior of individual grain boundaries in plastically deforming metals.