Les aubes des turbines à haute pression des réacteurs d'avion subissent des chargements complexes dans un environnement réactif. Prédire leur durée de vie peut nécessiter une approche en tolérance aux dommages, basée sur la prédiction de la propagation d'une fissure supposée. Mais cette approche est confrontée au comportement non linéaire sous des chargements à amplitudes variables et au coût énorme des calculs elasto-plastiques des structures 3D complexes sur des millions des cycles. Dans ce cadre, un modèle incrémental de fissuration a été proposé. Ce modèle est basé sur la plasticité comme mécanisme principal de propagation de fissure par fatigue pure. Cette modélisation passe par une réduction de modèle de type POD. La plasticité en pointe de la fissure est alors modélisée par un nombre réduit de variables non locales et des variables internes. Un ensemble d'hypothèses doit être respecté pour garantir la validité de cette modélisation. Pour décliner ce modèle dans le cas d'un matériau anisotrope représentatif du comportement des monocristaux, une première étude a été faite sur le cas d'une élasticité cubique avec de la plasticité de Von-Mises. Une stratégie a été proposée pour identifier un modèle matériau basé sur les facteurs d'intensité non locaux. Cette stratégie comporte une détermination de la fonction critère basée sur les solutions élastiques en anisotrope. L'étude des directions d'écoulement plastique avec les variables non locales montre une forte dépendance à l'anisotropie élastique du modèle même avec une plasticité associée de Von-Mises. La stratégie comporte également une identification des variables internes.Dans la deuxième partie, le problème d'une fissure avec un modèle de plasticité cristalline a été traité. L'activation de différents systèmes de glissement a été alors prise en compte dans la modélisation. Finalement, différentes méthodologies ont été explorées en vue de transposer le modèle local de plasticité cristalline à l'échelle non locale de la région en pointe de la fissure. / The fatigue life prediction of high pressure turbine blades may require a damage tolerance approach based on the study of possible crack propagation. The nonlinear behavior of the material under complex nonproportional loadings and the high cost of running long and expensive elastic-plastic FE computations on complex 3D structures over millions of cycles are some major issues that may encounter this type of approach.Within this context, an incremental model was proposed based on plasticity as a main mechanism for fatigue crack growth.A model reduction strategy using the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) was used to reduce the cost of FEA. Based on a set of hypotheses, the number of the degrees of freedom of the problem is reduced drastically. The plasticity at the crack tip is finally described by a set of empirical equations of few nonlocal variables and some internal variables.In order to apply this modeling strategy to the case of anisotropic materials that represent the behavior of single crystals, a first study was done with cubic elasticity and a Von-Mises plasticity. Elastic and plastic reference fields, required to reduce the model, were determined. Then, a material model of the near crack tip region was proposed based on nonlocal intensity factors. A yield criterion function was proposed based on Hoenig's asymptotic solutions for anisotropic materials. The study of plastic flow directions with the nonlocal variables of the model shows a strong dependency on the cubic elasticity. A strategy to identify internal variables is proposed as well. In the second part, a crystal plasticity model was implemented. The activation of different slip systems was taken into account in the model reduction strategy. A kinematic basis was constructed for each slip system. Finally, a strategy was proposed to transpose the local crystal plasticity model to the nonlocal scale of the crack.

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The thesis reports improvements in the characterization techniques for stress and texture in crystalline materials by x-ray and neutron powder diffraction. Furthermore, advances are made in texture evolution modelling and validation against experimental observations. In the beginning, the fundamental assumption of diffraction strain analysis is numerically examined and verified, namely, that the lattice parameter value determined from fitting the diffraction pattern is equal to the average lattice parameter within the gauge volume. Next, the task of shear strain determination from powder diffraction measurements is addressed. A method is developed and implemented for the complete 2D strain tensor determination from the multi-directional energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction patterns. The method not only offers a way to evaluate the shear strain, but also provides a better overall strain averaging approach. Rotation and translation of sample and/or detectors in powder diffraction mode can effectively increase the pole figure coverage and thus the accuracy of texture determination. However, the movements also introduce uncertainties and aberrations into data analysis due to the changes in the diffraction volume and transmitted intensity. In order to overcome these problems, accurate <strong>single exposure</strong> texture characterization techniques are proposed based on several different powder diffraction setups. Numerical analyses are carried out to prove that any simple texture in cubic polycrystals can be effectively determined using single exposure Debye-Scherrer diffraction pattern analysis. Several experiments are reported on collecting Debye-Scherrer diffraction patterns, multi-directional energy-dispersive x-ray diffraction patterns and multi-directional TOF neutron setup. Efficient data processing procedures of the diffraction patterns for ODF determination are presented. Crystal plasticity finite element models are developed to model the texture evolution in polycrystalline engineering samples during manufacturing. In the present thesis, quantitative measures extracted from orientation distribution function are employed to make precise comparison between the model and experiment. Unlike the simple uni-axial compression and tension considered in the literature, in the present thesis the complex texture evolution during linear friction welding is modelled as a sequence of different shear deformations.

Titanium alloys are employed in many advanced engineering applications due to their exceptional properties, i.e., a high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and high temperature strength. The performance of titanium alloys is known to be strongly affected by its inherent microstructure, which forms as a result of its thermo-mechanical processing. These microstructures produce compromise relationships between beneficial and detrimental effects on the alloy's performance. To study these structure-property relationships, two distinct crystal plasticity algorithms have been calibrated to data acquired from cyclic deformation experiments performed on three different Ti microstructures: (1) Ti-6Al-4V beta-annealed , (2) Ti-18 solution-treated, age-hardened (STA), and (3) Ti-18 beta-annealed, slow-cooled, age-hardened (BASCA). The calibrated models have been utilized to simulate fatigue loading of variant microstructures to investigate the influence of mean grain size, crystallographic texture, and phase volume fraction. The driving force for fatigue crack nucleation and propagation is quantified through the calculation of relevant fatigue indicator parameters (FIPs) and radial correlation functions are employed to study the correlation between favorably oriented slip systems and the extreme value FIP locations. The computed results are utilized to observe fatigue performance trends associated with changes to key microstructural attributes.

Owing to continuous miniaturization, many modern high-technology applications such as medical and optical devices, thermal barrier coatings, electronics, micro- and nano-electro mechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS), gems industry and semiconductors increasingly use components with sizes down to a few micrometers and even smaller. Understanding their deformation mechanisms and assessing their mechanical performance help to achieve new insights or design new material systems with superior properties through controlled microstructure at the appropriate scales. However, a fundamental understanding of mechanical response in surface-dominated structures, different than their bulk behaviours, is still elusive. In this thesis, the size effect in a single-crystal Ti alloy (Ti15V3Cr3Al3Sn) is investigated. To achieve this, nanoindentation and micropillar (with a square cross-section) compression tests were carried out in collaboration with Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), Switzerland. Three-dimensional finite element models of compression and indentation with an implicit time-integration scheme incorporating a strain-gradient crystal-plasticity (SGCP) theory were developed to accurately represent deformation of the studied body-centered cubic metallic material. An appropriate hardening model was implemented to account for strain-hardening of the active slip systems, determined experimentally. The optimized set of parameters characterizing the deformation behaviour of Ti alloy was obtained based on a direct comparison of simulations and the experiments. An enhanced model based on the SGCP theory (EMSGCP), accounting for an initial microstructure of samples in terms of different types of dislocations (statistically stored and geometrically necessary dislocations), was suggested and used in the numerical analysis. This meso-scale continuum theory bridges the gap between the discrete-dislocation dynamics theory, where simulations are performed at strain rates several orders of magnitude higher than those in experiments, and the classical continuum-plasticity theory, which cannot explain the dependence of mechanical response on a specimen s size since there is no length scale in its constitutive description. A case study was performed using a cylindrical pillar to examine, on the one hand, accuracy of the proposed EMSGCP theory and, on the other hand, its universality for different pillar geometries. An extensive numerical study of the size effect in micron-size pillars was also implemented. On the other hand, an anisotropic character of surface topographies around indents along different crystallographic orientations of single crystals obtained in numerical simulations was compared to experimental findings. The size effect in nano-indentation was studied numerically. The differences in the observed hardness values for various indenter types were investigated using the developed EMSGCP theory.

The currently operating Generation II Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors (AGR) in the nuclear power stations in the UK, mainly built in the 1960s and 1970s, are approaching their designed life. Besides the development of the new generation of reactors, the government is also seeking to extend the life of some AGRs. Creep and failure properties of Type 316H austenitic stainless steels used in some components of AGR at elevated temperature are under investigation in EDF Energy Ltd. However, the current empirical creep models used and examined in EDF Energy have deficiency and demonstrate poor agreement with the experimental data in the operational complex thermal/mechanical conditions. The overall objective of the present research is to improve our general understanding of the creep behaviour of Type 316H stainless steels under various conditions by undertaking theoretical studies and developing a physically based multiscale state variable model taking into account the evolution of different microstructural elements and a range of different internal mechanisms in order to make realistic life prediction. A detailed review shows that different microstructural elements are responsible for the internal deformation mechanisms for engineering alloys such as 316H stainless steels. These include the strengthening effects, associated with forest dislocation junctions, solute atoms and precipitates, and softening effects, associated with recovery of dislocation structure and coarsening of precipitates. All the mechanisms involve interactions between dislocations and different types of obstacles. Thus change in the microstructural state will lead to the change in materials' internal state and influence the mechanical/creep property. Based on these understandings, a multiscale self-consistent model for a polycrystalline material is established, consisting of continuum, crystal plasticity framework and dislocation link length model that allows the detailed dislocation distribution structure and its evolution during deformation to be incorporated. The model captures the interaction between individual slip planes (self- and latent hardening) and between individual grains and the surrounding matrix (plastic mismatch, leading to the residual stress). The state variables associated with all the microstructure elements are identified as the mean spacing between each type of obstacles. The evolution of these state variables are described in a number of physical processes, including the dislocation multiplication and climb-controlled network coarsening and the phase transformation (nucleation, growth and coarsening of different phases). The enhancements to the deformation kinetics at elevated temperature are also presented. Further, several simulations are carried out to validate the established model and further evaluate and interpret various available data measured for 316H stainless steels. Specimens are divided into two groups, respectively ex-service plus laboratory aged (EXLA) with a considerable population of precipitates and solution treated (ST) where precipitates are not present. For the EXLA specimens, the model is used to evaluate the microscopic lattice response, either parallel or perpendicular to the loading direction, subjected to uniaxial tensile and/or compressive loading at ambient temperature, and macroscopic Bauschinger effect, taking into account the effect of pre-loading and pre-crept history. For the ST specimens, the model is used to evaluate the phase transformation in the specimen head volume subjected to pure thermal ageing, and multiple secondary stages observed during uniaxial tensile creep in the specimen gauge volume at various temperatures and stresses. The results and analysis in this thesis improve the fundamental understanding of the relationship between the evolution of microstructure and the creep behaviour of the material. They are also beneficial to the assessment of materials' internal state and further investigation of deformation mechanism for a broader range of temperature and stress.

Le Zircaloy-4 utilisé comme matériau de gainage des combustibles nucléaires est trempé β puis filé sur aiguille dans le haut domaine α. La microstructure de trempe, qui conditionne les opérations de mise en forme ultérieures, se présente sous deux formes : vannerie ou colonies de lamelles parallèles. Ces dernières se fragmentent difficilement lorsqu’elles sont normales à l’effort de compression. La thèse étudie trois aspects de ce phénomène. Le premier concerne les conditions de trempe : temps d’homogénéisation dans le domaine β et vitesse de refroidissement. Une adaptation au Zircaloy-4 de l’essai Jominy montre que ces deux paramètres ont une influence décisive sur la taille des colonies (par l’intermédiaire de la taille des grains β) et sur l’épaisseur des lamelles. Le second présente des essais de compression selon trois directions orthogonales. La troisième passe fragmente les colonies qui ont résisté aux deux autres et affine sensiblement la microstructure. A 750°C en particulier, un cycle de trois passes permet d’obtenir des grains de 30 µm ; mais les meilleurs résultats sont obtenus à 650°C (grains de 17 µm) et à grande vitesse de déformation (grains de 10 µm).Dans le troisième, un modèle de plasticité cristalline tridimensionnel implémenté dans le code d’éléments finis ABAQUS simule le comportement des lamelles sous l’effet de la contrainte. Il prend en compte leur orientation cristallographique en plus de leur morphologie. Dans la plupart des cas, les lamelles s’incurvent dès le début de la déformation macroscopique du matériau, ce qui induit des localisations de la déformation. / Zircaloy-4 used for fuel cladding in nuclear plants is quenched from the β range and then extruded and rolled in the upper α range. At the start of this mechanical process, the alloy possesses a lamellar, Widmanstätten microstructure. This one, which is critical for the subsequent forming process, appears under two forms: basket weave and colonies of parallel lamellas. These are difficult to break when they are normal to the compressive load. The thesis studies three aspects of this phenomenon. The first concerns the quenching conditions: homogenization time in the β range and cooling rate. An adaptation of the Jominy test to Zircaloy-4 shows that these two parameters have a decisive influence on the size of the colonies (via the β grain size) and the thickness of the lamellas. The second presents compression tests under three orthogonal directions. Results show that the third pass breaks the colonies that resisted to the previous attempts and refine noticeably the microstructure. In particular at 750°C, three passes are sufficient to obtain grains of 30 µm, but the best results are obtained at 650°C (grains of 17 µm) and at high strain rate (grains of 10 µm). Thirdly, a three-dimensional crystal plasticity model is implemented in the finite elements code ABAQUS to simulate the behaviour of lamellas under stress. It takes into account their crystallographic orientation in addition to their morphology. In most cases, the lamellas bend at the onset of the macroscopic deformation, which induces localization phenomena.

L'irradiation peut modifier les propriétés mécaniques des aciers inoxydables austénitiques. Une diminution de la ténacité à la rupture des aciers en fonction de la dose est observée. La rupture ductile due à la croissance et la coalescence des cavités est toujours un mécanisme dominant dans les aciers irradiés jusqu'à 10 dpa. Des cavités peuvent être crées de manière différente : nucléées à partir des inclusions ou des précipités d'irradiation, ou créées directement par irradiation. Cette thèse a pour objectif d'étudier la rupture ductile des aciers irradiés due à la croissance et la coalescence des cavités intragranulaires. Basée sur la plasticité cristalline, des simulations en éléments finis sont effectuées sur les cellules unitaires pour étudier l'effet de l'orientation cristallographique et de la triaxialité de contraintes sur la croissance et la coalescence des cavités. L'effet de l'écrouissage post-irradiation sur la croissance et la coalescence des cavités est étudié avec un modèle de la plasticité cristalline prenant compte des défauts d'irradiation. En outre, un modèle élastomère-visco-plastique en grandes transformations est proposé pour décrire la croissance des cavités dans le monocristal. Le modèle est appliqué à la simulation de l'endommagement ductile dans le monocristal et le polycristal. Des cavités peuvent avoir des tailles différentes et la taille peut avoir une influence sur la ténacité à la rupture des aciers. Afin d'étudier cet effet, un modèle micromorphe de plasticité cristalline est proposé et appliqué à la simulation de la croissance et la coalescence des cavités intragranulaires de différentes tailles ainsi qu'aux phénomènes de localisation dans les monocristaux. / Irradiation causes drastic modifications of mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steels and a decrease in the fracture toughness with irradiation has been observed. Ductile fracture due to void growth and coalescence remains one dominant fracture mechanism for doses in the range of 0-10 dupa. Voids may have different origins : nucleated at inclusions or irradiation-induced precipitates during mechanical loading, or produced directly by irradiation. The present work is to investigate ductile fracture of irradiated steels due to growth and coalescence of intragranulaire voids. Based on continuum crystal plasticity theory, FE simulations are performed on unit cells for studying effects of lattice orientation and stress triaxiality on void growth and coalescence. The influence of post-irradiation hardening/softening on void growth ans coalescence is evaluated with a physically based crystal plasticity model. Besides, an elastoviscoplastic model at finite strains is proposed to describe void growth up to coalescence in single crystals, and is assessed based unit cell simulations. The model is then applied to simulate ductile damage in single crystals ans polycrystals. As voids in irradiated steels may have different origins, they may have different sizes, which potentially have an influence on ductile fracture process and fracture toughness of irradiated steels. In order to assess the size effect, a micromorphic crystal plasticity model is proposed and applied to simulate growth and coalescence of intragranular voids of different sizes.

In the drive towards higher strength alloys, a diverse range of alloying elements is employed to enhance their strength and ductility. Limited solid solubility of these elements in steel leads to segregation during casting which affects the entire down-stream processing and eventually the mechanical properties of the finished product. The work presented in this PhD shows that segregation of alloying elements during casting, particularly aluminium, leads directly to banding in the final product. It has been demonstrated that no significant homogenisation is possible in this alloy within practical time constraints of the industrial thermo-mechanical process. A through-process model was developed to design a thermo-mechanical treatment aimed at reducing the effects of segregation on the formation of banding. A new polynomial function for calculating the local phase transformation temperature (Ae3) between the austenite + ferrite and the fully austenitic phase fields during heating and cooling of steel is presented. Material was produced both with and without banding and used to study the effect upon the mechanical properties. The banded steel variants show a significant reduction in tensile strength for a similar level of ductility compared to non-banded variants. In situ measurement under uniaxial loading using high-energy synchrotron diffraction allowed direct quantification of the impact of the mechanically induced transformation of metastable austenite on the work- hardening behaviour. The results reveal that the mechanically induced transformation of austenite does not begin until the onset of matrix yielding and the experimental evidence demonstrates that the austenite to martensite transformation increases the work-hardening rate of the ferrite phase and delays the onset of Stage-III hardening until the yield point of austenite. The increase in work-hardening rate (and thus work required) supports a driving force approach to transformation induced plasticity. The transformation work required leads to an increase in the macroscopic work-hardening rate after matrix yielding which offsets the decrease in the work-hardening rate in the ferrite and martensite phases up to the UTS. Steels with a high degree of banding do not show this extra contribution due to the more dominant anisotropic effect of martensite bands on the work-hardening of ferrite coupled to increased mechanical austenite stability as a result of increased carbon content. A list of revisions as requested by the examiners is produced on pages 18 and 19 of the thesis for examination. Abstract: In the drive towards higher strength alloys, a diverse range of alloying elements is employed to enhance their strength and ductility. Limited solid solubility of these elements in steel leads to segregation during casting which affects the entire down-stream processing and eventually the mechanical properties of the finished product. The work presented in this PhD shows that segregation of alloying elements during casting, particularly aluminium, leads directly to banding in the final product. It has been demonstrated that no significant homogenisation is possible in this alloy within practical time constraints of the industrial thermo-mechanical process. A through-process model was developed to design a thermo-mechanical treatment aimed at reducing the effects of segregation on the formation of banding. A new polynomial function for calculating the local phase transformation temperature (Ae3) between the austenite + ferrite and the fully austenitic phase fields during heating and cooling of steel is presented. Material was produced both with and without banding and used to study the effect upon the mechanical properties. The banded steel variants show a significant reduction in tensile strength for a similar level of ductility compared to non-banded variants. In situ measurement under uniaxial loading using high-energy synchrotron diffraction allowed direct quantification of the impact of the mechanically induced transformation of metastable austenite on the work- hardening behaviour. The results reveal that the mechanically induced transformation of austenite does not begin until the onset of matrix yielding and the experimental evidence demonstrates that the austenite to martensite transformation increases the work-hardening rate of the ferrite phase and delays the onset of Stage-III hardening until the yield point of austenite. The increase in work-hardening rate (and thus work required) supports a driving force approach to transformation induced plasticity. The transformation work required leads to an increase in the macroscopic work-hardening rate after matrix yielding which offsets the decrease in the work-hardening rate in the ferrite and martensite phases up to the UTS. Steels with a high degree of banding do not show this extra contribution due to the more dominant anisotropic effect of martensite bands on the work-hardening of ferrite coupled to increased mechanical austenite stability as a result of increased carbon content.