A multiscale simulation framework for composite manufacturing process: Data transfer and experimental verification

The precise forming of complex thin-walled metallic components can be achieved through composite manufacturing process, where the macroscopic mechanical response and microstructural evolution exhibit significant coupling effects. A general multiscale sequential simulation framework was developed by coupling crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) and cellular automaton (CA) models. A bidirectional grid mapping and data transfer method was established to address grid incompatibility and physical quantity mapping between different models. During the transfer from the CPFE model to the CA model, the proposed grid refinement mapping approach achieves lossless data transmission compared with the nearest-neighbor mapping method. In the reverse transfer from CA to CPFE, the average data transmission error is also nearly negligible when the coarsened element size approaches the CA cell size. The proposed multiscale simulation framework is applicable to both 2D and 3D conditions. For simulations of a two-stage uniaxial tension with intermediate annealing, the average prediction error of the 2D and 3D models is about 5%. Although the 3D model exhibits slightly improved prediction accuracy, the computational cost is approximately six times that of the 2D model. It indicates that the 2D model provides a reasonable balance between computational efficiency and predictive accuracy. Furthermore, the multiscale framework was applied to simulate the post-heat treatment process of additively manufactured alloy. The prediction errors for the recrystallized volume fraction and average grain size are both below 10%, and the stress-strain curves during subsequent uniaxial tension is predicted with an accuracy of approximately 95%. The results from the two application cases demonstrate that the proposed coupled model can accurately capture the mechanical response during deformation as well as the static recrystallization behavior during annealing, confirming the generality and reliability of the multiscale simulation framework.