Numerical simulation of mechanical deformation of semi-solid material using a level-set based finite element method

In this work, a level-set based finite element method was used to numerically evaluate the mechanical behavior in a small deformation range of semi-solid materials with different microstructure configurations. For this purpose, a finite element model of the semi-solid phase was built based on Voronoï diagram. Interfaces between the solid and the liquid phases were implicitly described by level-set functions coupled to an anisotropic meshing technique. The liquid phase was considered as a Newtonian fluid, whereas the behavior of the solid phase was described by a viscoplastic law. Simulations were performed to study the effect of different parameters such as solid phase fraction and solid bridging. Results show that the macroscopic mechanical behavior of semi-solid material strongly depends on the solid fraction and the local microstructure which play important roles in the formation of hot tearing. These results could provide valuable information for the processing of semi-solid materials. (paper)