On the influence of mechanical environment on the emergence of brass textures in FCC metals

Face-centered cubic metals develop one of two distinct textures, when subjected to a plate rolling process: the copper or brass texture. Copper texture development is relatively well understood; brass texture development is not. One explanation is that slip is more highly planar and deformation is more heterogeneous in metals that develop a brass texture. In this paper, a latent hardening model is introduced to alter the planarity of slip and used in an elastoviscoplastic finite element formulation that permits heterogeneous deformations both within and among crystals to study texture development under plane strain compression. The results support the contention that latent hardening, together with a grain interaction model that allows for heterogeneous deformations, does promote the transition from copper to brass textures at low strains. However, the development of the brass texture does not persist to large strains under the assumed model, suggesting perhaps that revisions are necessary to the underlying form of the hardening model or that deformation mechanisms other than slip intervene at larger strains. These issues are discussed in the context of the influence of latent hardening on the mechanical environment within crystals.