Three-dimensional finite element simulations of 9-grain multicrystalline aggregates were performed within the framework of the classical continuum crystal plasticity and discrete dislocation dynamics. The results were processed in a statistical way by ensemble averaging. The comparison was made at three levels: macroscopic stress–strain curves, average stress values per grain, local values of stress and plastic strain. The comparison shows that some similarities were observed in the stress and strain distributions in both simulations approaches. But there were also large discrepancies caused by the discrete nature of plasticity in discrete dislocation dynamics. The discrete dislocation dynamics simulations provided higher stress levels in the aggregate due to the small number of dislocation sources and to the stress field induced by individual dislocations.

Comparison of Mechanical Behaviour of Thin Film Simulated by Discrete Dislocation Dynamics and Continuum Crystal Plasticity. F.Šiška, D.Weygand, S.Forest, P.Gumbsch: Computational Materials Science, 2009, 45[3], 793-9