Texture dependent plastic behavior of Zr 702 at large strain

Three polycrystalline samples of Zr702 alpha are deformed at room temperatu re under channel die compression until about 40% strain. Samples are orient ed differently in the die with respect to their texture, so that the influe nce of the initial texture on the stress-strain response, the activated def ormation systems, and the subsequent texture evolution can be assessed. Exp erimental results are interpreted by using a viscoplastic self-consistent ( VPSC) polycrystalline model in which a saturating anisotropic intracrystall ine hardening law is introduced, It is shown that the orientation dependenc e of the activated slip systems strongly depends on the texture of the poly crystal. The main effect of intracrystalline hardening is found to be a red istribution of slip from the primary to the secondary systems, but in a mod erate way such that it does not affect significantly the development of tex ture. A simple analysis shows that the increasing activity of the secondary slip systems can be assessed directly from the macroscopic stress-strain c urves. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.