Comparison of texture evolution in fcc metals predicted by various grain cluster homogenization schemes

We introduce a new material point homogenization scheme - the 'Relaxed Grain Cluster' (RGC) - based on a cluster of 2x2x2 grains and formulated in the framework of finite deformations. Two variants of this scheme, which allow for different degrees of relaxation, are compared to two variants derived from the infinitesimal-strain grain interaction model regarding the evolution of texture predicted for plane-strain compression of a commercial aluminum alloy. The RGC schemes give the closest match to experimental reference on both the α-fiber and the β-skeleton line. The intensity of the brass texture component is found to be rather sensitive to the homogenization scheme. However, the observed decrease in texture intensity as a function of the homogenization scheme for the Cu and S component on the β-skeleton line can be correlated to the number of degrees of freedom in the cluster which are left unconstrained by the respective scheme. This is in line with the significant dependence of the Cu and S component intensity on boundary conditions reported in earlier studies. © Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KG.