Multiscale modeling of particle-induced damage in AA7075 aluminum sheet at large plastic strains

Large plastic deformation and ductile damage in precipitation hardening aluminum alloy AA7075 is driven by plastic flow in the vicinity of particles as well as fracture and decohesion of second phase particles embedded in the matrix. The current work investigates the deformation and damage characteristics of Fe-rich intermetallic particles, and η and θ precipitates in AA7075-O sheet. A multiscale model simulation methodology is presented and applied to analyze large-scale plastic deformation and damage characteristics. The methodology utilizes nanoscale molecular dynamics simulation to obtain matrix-particle interface strength properties and Weibull statistics to capture experimental fracture characteristics of particles. The above sub-models are incorporated within a 2-D real particle microstructure-based finite element model to conduct a comparative study of the roles of decohesion and fracture in the development of plasticity and void damage in AA7075-O sheet. In addition, in-situ SEM uniaxial tensile tests are carried out to assess the effectiveness of the simulation methodology and to compare the experimental and numerical results. Post-test high resolution X-ray computed tomography (HR-XCT) was also carried out to qualitatively observe particle-induced voiding in the material. The numerical methodology is shown to capture well the experimental trends in damage evolution of the individual particles. It is observed that particle damage is a function of inherent particle properties, their morphological features, and matrix strain localization characteristics. Larger-size Fe-rich particles are observed to undergo damage at an earlier stage, and consequently, affect the strain localization characteristics the most. In contrast, η precipitates are found to be most resistant to particle damage, followed by θ precipitates. Higher stresses inside strain localization bands, caused increased void damage initiation and growth of η and θ precipitates. Overall, particle fracture is observed to be marginally higher compared to particle decohesion, irrespective of the particle type.