Prediction of Static Macroscopic Material Behaviour of Additively Manufactured Metals through Crystal Plasticity Modelling

Fluctuations of material properties in additively manufactured materials are well documented and vast efforts have been undertaken to understand their origin. Nowadays, the deliberate alteration of material properties through the processing strategy is a highly researched topic. Tweaking the process, fabricating specimens and investigating these through experiments is tedious and having simulation tools to assist and cut down the experimental costs is thus, an important endeavour. The alteration of mechanical properties largely occurs on the microscale and as such, simulation approaches connecting the microstructure to the macroscopic mechanical properties are seen as the most promising option. This chapter serves to showcase the current state of the art in connecting microstructural features to macroscopic mechanical properties through crystal plasticity finite element modelling on the example of the austenitic stainless steel EN 1.4404, US 316L. The key takeaways are the minimum information required from experiments and how to set up a working model, considering a reasonable computational cost.