On the predictions of self-consistent plasticity models: The effect of loading mode during in situ diffraction tests

Data from a series of in situ neutron diffraction tests has previously demonstrated that the way that deformation is applied does influence the observed lattice strains. Here the data is used to tune work hardening parameters for two different self-consistent models: the elasto-plastic self-consistent (EPSC) model, and the elasto-viscoplastic self-consistent (EVPSC) model. It was found that the time sensitive EVPSC model was better able to reproduce the deformation behavior of incrementally loaded Zircaloy-2 than the time insensitive EPSC model. Specifically, EVPSC was able to better reproduce the experimentally measured data for all types of loading using one single set of hardening parameters, while EPSC required a different set of parameters for each type of incremental loading mode.