Crystal plasticity analysis of dissipation under low-amplitude cyclic loading: from slip-band activation to self-heating curves
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Dissipation analysis under low-amplitude cyclic loading, commonly referred to as self-heating measurements, is an increasingly used experimental method for estimating high-cycle fatigue (HCF) properties. While a two-scale probabilistic model (Poisson point process, PPP) successfully links self-heating curves to HCF scatter, the physical nature of the postulated plastic activation sites has never been examined through full-field polycrystalline simulations. This work addresses this gap by introducing an explicit lamellar representation of slip bands within individual grains of a polycrystalline representative volume element, combining FFT-based crystal plasticity with grain-scale variability of the critical resolved shear stress. This lamella-scale framework captures the heterogeneous and progressive onset of microplasticity under uniaxial cyclic loading (R = −1). The main results are threefold: (i) the number of plastically active lamellae follows a power-law distribution in stress amplitude, in quantitative agreement with the PPP hypothesis; (ii) the mean steady-state dissipation per cycle reproduces the secondary regime of experimental self-heating curves; (iii) a fatigue indicator parameter (FIP) based on cumulative plastic slip at the lamella scale exhibits a Weibull-type scatter whose shape parameter is consistent with experimental HCF variability. These results provide a microstructural justification for the assumptions of the two-scale probabilistic model and establish a physically grounded connection between slip-band activation, self-heating measurements, and HCF scatter.
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanics of Materials
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,740
Funder: Naval Group
Award: G9001169242
OpenAlex ID: W7221161302