Thermodynamic consistent formulations of viscoplastic deformations in FCC metals

A general consistent thermodynamic framework for small strain thermoviscoplastic deformations of face-centered cubic (FCC) metals is presented in this study. An appropriate and consistent Helmholtz free energy definition is incorporated, after considering the strain rate effect imbedded through the hardening definition, in deriving the proposed three-dimensional kinematical model. Microstructural physically based thermal and athermal yield function definitions (von Mises type) are utilized in this work for dynamic and static deformations of FCC metals. A length scale parameter introduced implicitly through the viscosity parameter is related to the waiting time of dislocations at an obstacle. The role of material dependence in setting the character of the governing equations is illustrated in the context of a simple uniaxial tensile problem in order to check the effectiveness and the performance of the proposed framework and its finite-element implementation. Results obtained for OFHC copper at low and high strain rates and temperatures show, generally, good comparisons with experimental results.