An integrated fast Fourier transform-based phase-field and crystal plasticity approach to model recrystallization of three dimensional polycrystals

A fast Fourier transform (FFT) based computational approach integrating phase-field method (PFM) and crystal plasticity (CP) is proposed to model recrystallization of plastically deformed polycrystals in three dimensions (3-D). CP at the grain level is employed as the constitutive description to predict the inhomogeneous distribution of strain and stress fields after plastic deformation of a polycrystalline aggregate while the kinetics of recrystallization is obtained employing a PFM in the plastically deformed grain structure. The elasto-viscoplastic equilibrium is guaranteed during each step of temporal phase-field evolution. Static recrystallization involving plasticity during grain growth is employed as an example to demonstrate the proposed computational framework. The simulated recrystallization kinetics is compared using the classical Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) theory. This study also gives us a new computational pathway to explore the plasticity-driven evolution of 3D microstructures.