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Microstructure-based simulations of the deformation processes require substantial computational resources due to the necessity of using detailed meshes with a large number of elements. An approach that considerably reduces the computational costs implies simulation of quasistatic deformation within a dynamic approach involving a solution of the motion equations rather than the equilibrium equations. It enables a transition from implicit to explicit time integration providing a significant gain in the computational capacity. In this paper, we show that the explicit dynamic approach can be successfully used in the microstructure-based simulations of quasistatic deformation, considerably reducing the computational costs without losing the information and solution accuracy. The following conditions have to be met to ensure a close agreement between the dynamic and static solutions: (i) the load velocity in the dynamic calculations must be smoothly increased to its amplitude value and then kept constant to minimize the acceleration term appearing in the equation of motion and (ii) the constitutive model employed must describe a quasi-rate-independent response. An examination of the mesh convergence and the strain-rate dependence for a polycrystalline aluminum model has supported this conclusion.

A crystal plasticity approach was used to study the effects of grain shape and texture on the deformation behavior of friction stir weld (FSW) microregions. The explicit stress-strain analysis was performed for two representative grain structures with equiaxed and extended grains. Grain orientations were assigned to simulate no texture or a weak or strong cubic texture. Calculations have shown that the texture gave rise to earlier plastic strain localization on a larger scale. The highest stresses were found to develop in a non-textured specimen with equiaxed grains where the grain boundaries served as a barrier to dislocation motion. In both equiaxed and extended grain structures with a strong cubic texture no pronounced strain localization was seen on the grain scale but mesoscale shear bands appeared early in the deformation process. The calculations have shown that the microstructure-based simulation is a reasonable tool to study the deformation behavior of FSW materials, which is difficult to be predicted within macroscopic models alone.

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