Modelling and experimental investigation of dislocation-driven microstructure evolution in deformed polycrystals – MOOMIN

Thermomechanical treatment of metallic polycrystals can dramatically change the macroscopically observable mechanical properties. These changes can be explained by significant evolution taking place at the microscale due to heterogeneous viscoplastic deformation of the crystalline grains, and subsequent or concurrent recrystallization processes. With the invention of techniques such as electron microscopy it has become possible to experimentally observe the microstructural evolution. Several of the involved mechanisms can also be studied by numerical simulations. The aim of this project is to further the understanding of the microstructure evolution by full-field comparisons between numerical simulations and in situ experimental observations on pure aluminium polycrystals, and to provide a numerical framework which can be used to predict the recrystallized microstructure in a metallic polycrystal after applied thermomechanical processing.