No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2012
Ferritic/martensitic steels such as HT9 steel, is used for structural components in nuclear power plants because of its high strength and good swelling resistance. Understanding the mechanical behavior of these steels is quite important, since it will affect the strength and the life of the component. In this study, a dislocation density based crystal plasticity finite element model is developed in which different types of dislocation evolves on the activated 12 slip systems in alpha-iron. The dislocation evolves in the form of closed loop and the dislocation density is tracked as internal state variable, the generation and annihilation of dislocations are modeled based on the dislocation interaction laws. The plastic flow is calculated based on the dislocation densities and a generalized Taylor equation is used as the hardening law, and the hardening is assumed to be isotropic in this study. The evolution of polycrystal texture of alpha-iron is presented in the form of pole figures, which indicate the orientation spread and agree with the experimental result. The model also indicates the inhomogeneous dislocation distribution and stress concentration at the grain boundaries.