Damage characterization and damage percolation modelling in aluminum alloysheet

Tessellation methods have been applied to characterize second-phase particl e fields and the degree of clustering present in AA5754 and AA5182 automoti ve sheet alloys. A model of damage development within these materials has b een developed using a damage percolation approach based on measured particl e distributions. The model accepts tessellated particle fields in order to capture the spatial distributions of particles. as well as nearest neighbou r and cluster parameter data. The model demonstrates that damage initiates and percolates within particle clusters in a stable fashion for the majorit y of the deformation history. Macrocracking leading to final failure occurs as a chain reaction with catastrophic void linkage triggered once linkage beyond three or more clusters of voids takes place. A parametric study has been undertaken considering subfields of larger particle fields in order to study the effect of choice of representative volume element (RVE) on ducti lity predictions. (C) 2001 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.