Three-dimensional frontal cellular automata modeling of the grain refinement during severe plastic deformation of microalloyed steel

Abstract In the current work, a computer model based on three-dimensional Frontal Cellular Automata (FCA) for the simulation of grain refinement during multiaxial compression was developed. The strong grain refinement obtained in microalloyed steel through subdivision of the initial coarse-grained structure into dislocation substructure and subsequently into stabile UFG structure was simulated and analyzed by FCA. Proposed in the present study model is a step forward toward understanding deformation mechanisms occurring during metal forming processes with high energy accumulation. Conclusions regarding possibilities of proposed numerical tool were drawn basing upon qualitative and quantitative comparisons of the modeling and SEM/EBSD results. Results obtained with FCA-based model were compared with SEM/EBSD results of real process and demonstrated a good agreement. A description of the model, results and conclusions are presented in the paper as well.