Modeling the room temperature deformation of a two-phase zirconium alloy

A new modeling approach, which combines the finite element method (FEM) and elasto-plastic self-consistent model (EPSC), was used to model the deformation behavior of hot-rolled Zr–2.5Nb plate material and was shown to be an effective method for describing the deformation of multiphase materials. The macroscopic mechanical properties and the phase interaction stresses were well captured by a unit cell FEM model. The average phase stress–strain histories simulated by FEM were used as boundary conditions in an EPSC model to calculate the evolution of intergranular strains in both phases. Taking the asymmetric character of the pyramidal slip during tension and compression into account in EPSC, the agreement between the experimental and the modeling results was considerably improved.