A full-field crystal plasticity simulation of microstructure and texture evolution in copper during strain path change in plane strain compression

Strain-path modification during rolling provides an effective route of tailoring microstructure, crystallographic texture, and local stress evolution. In this study, the influence of strain-path changes during plane strain compression of copper was investigated using full-field crystal plasticity simulations within the fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based framework implemented in the Düsseldorf Advanced Material Simulation Kit (DAMASK). A synthetic microstructure reconstructed from electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data was subjected to three deformation routes: unidirectional rolling (UDR), two-step cross rolling (TSCR), and multistep cross rolling (MSCR). The simulated texture evolution showed a good agreement with experimentally reported trends, reproducing the transition from a Copper-type texture under UDR to a Brass-type texture during cross rolling. Strain-path changes redistributed resolved shear stresses among the available slip systems, resulting in distinct deformation induced microstructural evolution, enhanced stress heterogeneity, and increased grain-boundary stress concentrations compared with UDR. Analysis of slip activity, equivalent shear rate, and the micromechanical Taylor factor revealed the mechanisms governing strain accommodation and local stress partitioning during rolling. Finally, a Bayesian-optimized extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model was developed to establish the relationship between crystallographic orientation and the local von Mises stress predicted by crystal plasticity simulations, enabling quantitative evaluation of orientation-dependent stress evolution. The combined computational framework provides mechanistic insights into the influence of strainpath changes on the evolution of microstructure, crystallographic texture, and local stress during rolling.