A modified micromechanical approach to determine flow stress of work materials experiencing complex deformation histories in manufacturing processes

Work materials experience a broad range of strains, strain rates, and temperatures in many manufacturing processes such as machining, forming, etc. Strain rate has an important effect on the yield and flow stress of work materials, especially metals, since at higher strain rates there is less time for thermally activated events; consequently, it is equivalent to a lowering of the temperature of the materials. On the other hand, it is also true that, for high strain rate deformations such as metal cutting, adiabatic plastic flow may produce significant temperature changes in the materials. Flow stress is significantly affected by the strain rate history; hence, mechanical behavior may not be fully described in terms of a mechanical equation of state relating the instantaneous stress, strain, strain rate, and temperature. Based on the concept of dislocation mechanics, a micromechanical approach with the new concept of temperature coefficient has been explored to overcome the model issues such as negative or constant flow stress above the critical temperatures. The flow stresses of aluminum 6061-T6 and titanium Ti-6Al-4V have been predicted, for the first time, using the modified micromechanical model based on the available baseline high strain rates test data. The constitutive model was further modified and extended to predict flow stress below as well as above the critical temperature. The corresponding model predictions were compared with the experimental data, attaining good agreement.