Original Article

Proc IMechE Part C:

J Mechanical Engineering Science
Comparative studies of the constitutive 2022, Vol. 236(7) 3636–3650
© The Author(s) 2021
models for tungsten heavy alloy Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/09544062211045168
(95W-3.5Ni-1.5Fe) at high strain rates journals.sagepub.com/home/pic

Xiuwen Lai, Zhanjiang Wang  and Na Qin

Abstract
The plastic behaviors’ description of a tungsten heavy alloy (95W-3.5Ni-1.5Fe) at temperatures of 298–773 K and strain rates
of 0.001–11,000 s
1 is systematically studied based on four constitutive models, that is, Zerilli-Armstrong model, modified
Zerilli-Armstrong model, Mechanical Threshold Stress model, and modified Mechanical Threshold Stress model. The quasi-
static compression experiments using an electronic universal testing machine and the dynamic compression experiments
using a split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus are employed to obtain the true stress–strain curves at a total of three
temperatures (298 K, 573 K, and 773 K) and a wide range of strain rates (0.001–11,000 s
1). The parameters of the four
constitutive models are obtained by the above fundamental experimental data and Grey Wolf Optimizer. The correlation
coefficient and average absolute relative error are used to evaluate the predicted performance of these models. Modified
Mechanical Threshold Stress model is found to have the highest predicted performance in describing the flow stress of the
95W-3.5Ni-1.5Fe alloy. Eventually, two compression experiments whose loading conditions are not in the fundamental
experiments are conducted to validate the four models.

Keywords
Tungsten heavy alloys, Zerilli-Armstrong model, modified Zerilli-Armstrong model, mechanical threshold stress model,
modified mechanical threshold stress model, grey wolf optimizer

Introduction Threshold Stress (MTS) model21-27 belong to physical

Tungsten heavy alloys (WHAs) have the advantages of high
densities (16–18.5 g/cm),1 high melting point,2,3 and wonderful
properties such as high strength, high fracture toughness,
good corrosion resistance, and so on.4,5 WHAs are composite
materials where body-centered cubic (BCC) tungsten par-
ticles are randomly embedded in a face-centered cubic (FCC)
matrix. Tungsten particles are of high hardness and low
ductility, while the matrix exhibits a good ductility but a low
strength.6-8 Tungsten-based alloys are mainly prepared by
liquid phase sintering, in which the main element, tungsten,
is sintered with a small amount of Ni, Fe, Cu, Co., etc. After
sintered, WHAs with different microstructures and mechanical
properties can be obtained.9-11 The most common WHAs,
named W-Ni-Fe, contain 85 to 98 wt% tungsten with Ni:Fe
weight ratios between 6:4 and 9:1.12
In the last thirty years, many researchers used experiments
and the finite element method (FEM) to study the plastic
behaviors of tungsten and its alloys at different temperatures
and strain rates. The constitutive models used in the FEM are
built based on experimental data. These constitutive models
are usually classified as phenomenological models and physical
models. Phenomenological models are based on macro
parameters’ effects on flow stress, while physical models
are based on micro-deformation mechanisms.13 Johnson-
Cook (JC) model,14 Khan-Huang-Liang (KHL) model,15,16
and Arrhenius model17 belong to phenomenological models,
while Zerilli-Armstrong (ZA) model18-20 and Mechanical
models. Only more accurate constitutive models can make
the finite element simulation more effective and precise.
Therefore, many constitutive models have been built. Yadav
and Ramesh28 studied 91 wt% tungsten (91W) under very
high strain rates of 103-105 s
1 at room temperature, and they
established JC model and ZA model for 91W. Chen and
Gray24 studied the tantalum–tungsten alloys under strain
rates of 0.001–2500 s
1 and temperatures of 77–873 K, and
they established JC model, ZA model, and MTS model for
tantalum–tungsten alloys. Dümmer et al.25 studied the effects
of strain rates (quasi-static strain rate at 3×10
3 s
1 and
dynamic strain rates from 103 to 4×103 s
1) on plastic flow
in polycrystalline tungsten (PW). The flow stress of PW
was described by ZA model and MTS model, respectively.
Lee et al.29,30 illustrated the quasi-static (0.01–1 s
1) and
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University,
Chengdu, China
Corresponding authors:
Zhanjiang Wang, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest
Jiaotong University, No.111, North Section 1, 2nd Ring Road, Chengdu
610031, China.
Email: wangzhanjiang001@gmail.com
Na Qin, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong
University, NO.111 , Northbound 1, 2nd Ring Road, Chengdu 610031,
China.
Email: tinaspirit@163.com
Lai et al. 3637

dynamic (800-4000 s
1) flow stress of 92.5W-5.25Ni-2.25Fe

at different temperatures of 298–1373 K by Arrhenius model
and ZA model, respectively. Lennon and Ramesh31 studied
the plastic behaviors of PW under strain rates of 10
3–
4×103 s
1 and temperatures of 300 K–1023 K by JC model
and ZA model. Xu and Huang32 established seven consti-
tutive models (JC, KHL, PB, NNL, ZA, VA, and RK) to
describe the thermomechanical behaviors of 93W-4.9Ni-
2.1Fe under strain rates of 10
3–3×103 s
1 and tempera-
tures of 173 K–873 K. Wang et al.33 used six constitutive
models (Arrhenius, JC, modified-JC, ZA, modified-ZA, and
KHL) to describe the thermomechanical behaviors of pure
tungsten under quasi-static conditions and elevated tem-
peratures of 1523 K–1823 K.
It is found that the studied strain rates are mostly below
4000 s
1 except for the study of Yadav and Ramesh,28 and
the researchers mentioned above tend to study the individual
effects of high strain rates and temperatures on the plastic
behaviors of tungsten and its alloys except for Chen and
Gray,24 Lee et al.,29,30 and Xu and Huang.32 However, there
are coupling effects of high strain rates and temperatures in
the actual processing. For example, in elliptical vibration
cutting processing, materials are intensely deformed under
high strain rates at various temperatures.4,34 Therefore, the
previous studies on the coupling effects of high strain rates
and temperatures on the plastic behaviors of tungsten and its
alloys are insufficient, especially for the tungsten alloy whose
tungsten content is more than 95 wt%. Moreover, the pre-
dicted performance of physical models is generally better
than that of phenomenological models.32 Among the
physical models, ZA model is widely used because of its easy
expression, easy fitting of parameters, and good predicted
performance. However, MTS model, which also belongs to
physical models, is rarely studied because MTS model
considers more complex micro-deformation mechanisms
and has many parameters that are not easy to fit. Aiming at Figure 1. The typical microstructure of 95W and the statistical
results of grain size.
the problem that the parameters of MTS model are difficult to
fit, an optimization algorithm can be used to obtain the model
parameters according to some researches.35,36 Therefore, in shows the typical microstructure of 95W and the statistical
this paper, the two typical physical models, that is, ZA and results of grain size, which obey normal distribution. The ex-
MTS models, are studied. The fundamental quasi-static and pectation X , standard deviation S, and the quantity of tungsten
dynamic compression experiments and Grey Wolf Opti- particles Q are 28.5 μm, 10.553 μm, and 700, respectively.
mizer37 (GWO) are employed to obtain the parameters of ZA The quasi-static compression experiments are performed
and MTS models. Further, a modified ZA (M-ZA) model and on an electronic universal testing machine (EUTM) at a
a modified MTS (M-MTS) model are proposed to increase 0.18 mm/min loading rate. The specimens of the quasi-static
the predicted performance of the original ZA and MTS compression experiments are made into cylinders, which are
models. These two modified models’ parameters are also 4 mm in diameter and 3 mm in length, that is, the strain rate is
obtained by the fundamental compression experimental data 0.001 s
1. The dynamic compression experiments are per-
and GWO. Subsequently, comparative studies of the four formed using a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) at
constitutive models are conducted based on expressions and temperatures of 298–773 K and strain rates of 2500–
the agreement between predicted curves and the fundamental 11,000 s
1. The specimens of SHPB tests are also made into
experimental data. Eventually, two compression experiments cylinders, which are 4 mm in diameter and 3 mm in length. All
whose loading conditions are not in the fundamental ex- specimens are obtained by wire electro-discharge machining
periments are conducted to validate the four models. and polished on both sides to reduce end friction on the
specimens. Figure 2 shows the schematic diagram of SHPB.

Experimental procedures and results The flow characteristics and

Material and experiments deformation mechanisms
The material studied in this paper is 95W-3.5Ni-1.5Fe alloy Because the gas gun of SHPB can only provide five dif-
(95W), which is prepared by liquid phase sintering. Figure 1 ferent pressures of 0.2–0.6 MPa when conducting the
3638 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 236(7)

Figure 2. The schematic diagram of split Hopkinson pressure bar.

Figure 3. The results of quasi-static and dynamic compression experiments: (a) quasi-static condition, (b) 0.2 MPa, (c) 0.3 MPa, (d) 0.4 MPa,
(e) 0.5 MPa, and (f) 0.6 MPa.

dynamic compression experiments, the experimental data and the experimental data are also based on the true strain
under the same pressure and three different temperatures are before 0.25.
put together for study. Figure 3 shows a total of 16 results of
quasi-static and dynamic compression experiments. Three
repeated experiments are conducted for each loading Evaluation method of constitutive models
condition. It is seen that there is a rapid decrease of the flow The correlation coefficient (Rr) and average absolute rel-
stress when the true strain exceeds about 0.25 under high ative error (AARE) are employed to assess the predicted
strain rates. This phenomenon appears obviously when the performance of the four models quantitatively. The ex-
strain rate exceeds 5000 s
1. Lee et al.29 found a similar pressions are written as follows
phenomenon in the 92.5W flow stress curves at a fixed
strain rate of 4000 s
1. They made a metallographic ob- N  
1 X 
Ei
Pi  × 100
servation on a specimen tested under 4000 s
1 and 298 K, AAREð%Þ ¼  (1)
N i¼1 Ei 
and they found that there are macrocracks propagating in
the Fe-Ni matrix and microcracks at the interface between   
PN
tungsten grains and matrix, and finally, microcrack formation i¼1 Ei
E Pi
P
between contiguous tungsten grains. Hence, it’s reasonable Rr ¼ sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2  2ffi (2)
to speculate that the specimens will cause and accumulate PN PN
damage when the true strain exceeds 0.25. Based on this i¼1 Ei
E i¼1 Pi
P

assumption, the following constitutive models are estab-

lished by the experimental data before the true strain reaches where N is the number of data points, Ei is the experimental
0.25. Similarly, the comparisons between predicted curves value, Pi is the predicted value, E stands for the average
Lai et al.
Figure 4. The selected points from the experimental and
predicted flow stress curves for a certain loading condition
(Schematic diagram).
value of all experimental values, and P stands for the average
value of all predicted values.
Constitutive parameter
optimization process
Mathematical form of optimization
The process of constitutive parameter optimization in this
paper is a minimization problem. The mathematical form of
the minimization problem is as follows
N 
   
1 X 
σ exp i
σ y ðxÞ i
 × 100,
Minimize f ðxÞ ¼  
X2RL N i¼1  σ exp i 
(3)
T
x ¼ ðx1 ,x2 ,…,xL Þ subject to dj ≤ xj ≤ ej ðj ¼ 1,2,/,LÞ
where the components xj of x are called design variables
(constitutive parameters), L is the number of design vari-
ables (the number of constitutive parameters), f ðxÞ stands
for the objective function (AARE), dj stands for the mini-
mum value of xj, ej stands for the maximum value of xj, and
σ exp and σ y are the flow stress from experiments and
constitutive model calculation, respectively.
Because of the deviations of experimental flow stress
curves before the true strain of 0.05, the evaluations of
constitutive models’ predicted performance are based on
the true strain from 0.05 to 0.25. In this range of the true
strain, 21 pairs of data points from experimental and pre-
dicted flow stress curves are evenly selected for each
loading condition, as shown in Figure 4. Therefore, a total
of 336 pairs of data points (N=336) are used to evaluate the
constitutive models’ predicted performance for 16 loading
conditions (in Figure 3).
Grey Wolf Optimizer
Grey Wolf Optimizer, which is inspired by the behaviors of
the grey wolf predation, is a new meta-heuristic to solve the
optimization problems. This optimizer is proposed by
Mirjalili et al.37 This optimization algorithm is based on
3639
Figure 5. Hierarchy of grey wolves in Grey Wolf Optimizer.
mimicking the leadership hierarchy and hunting mechanism
of the grey wolves. The leadership hierarchy of the grey
wolves is defined as four types, that is, alpha (α), beta (β),
delta (δ), and omega (ω), as shown in Figure 5.
The first three levels, α, β, and δ, stand for the dominant
grey wolf, the superior grey wolf, and the middle grey wolf,
respectively. The lowest level ω is regarded as the re-
maining grey wolves. The three main steps of hunting,
searching for prey, encircling prey, and attacking prey, are
employed to describe the hunting mechanism of the grey
wolves. When the grey wolves hunt, the positions of ω level
are updated by the positions of α, β, and δ levels. In this
paper, the specific steps of GWO are as follows:
Step 1. Positions initialization. The maximum number of
iterations is set as 1000, and 30 sets of constitutive pa-
rameters are randomly generated in the range of initial
values as the initial positions of 30 grey wolves.
Step 2. Social hierarchy. The AARE is regarded as the
objective function. The fitness of each grey wolf is cal-
culated in the population, and the best three wolves with the
lowest three AARE values are labeled by α, β, and δ. The
remaining wolves are labeled by ω.
Step 3. Encircling prey. During the hunt, the grey wolves
encircle prey. The encircling process can be expressed by a
mathematical model as follows37
Xðkþ1Þ ¼ XðkÞ
p
A
ðkÞ
 DðkÞ
 ðkÞ  (4)
¼ XpðkÞ
2aðkÞ  r1
aðkÞ  DðkÞ
where k presents the latest iteration, Xp indicates the po-
sition vector of the prey, X stands the position vector of a
grey wolf, A ¼ 2a  r1
a, r1 is a random vector between
[0, 1], the components of a is linearly decreased from 2 to 0
over the process of iterations, and D is calculated by
equation (5)
 
 
DðkÞ ¼ CðkÞ  XpðkÞ
XðkÞ 
  (5)
 ðkÞ 
¼ 2r2  XpðkÞ
XðkÞ 
where D stands for a vector depending on the position of
the prey (Xp), C ¼ 2r2 , r2 is also the random vector between
[0, 1].
3640 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 236(7)

Table 1. Material properties of 95W.39

Properties Values

Density, ρ 17500 kg/m3

Young’s modulus, E 372 GPa
Poisson’s ratio, ν 0.28
Specific heat, Cp 134 J/kg/K

 ðkÞ   
 ðkÞ ðkÞ 
DαðkÞ ¼ C1  XαðkÞ
XðkÞ , Dβ ¼ C2  Xβ
XðkÞ ,
ðkÞ

 ðkÞ ðkÞ 
Dδ ¼ C3  Xδ
XðkÞ 
ðkÞ

(8)

When the maximum number of iterations is reached, the

optimization is completed, and Xα is the optimal solution,
which is used for the corresponding constitutive model.
Figure 6 shows the flow chart of GWO to search for the
optimal constitutive parameters.

Constitutive models and predicted results

Figure 6. The flow chart of Grey Wolf Optimizer to search for
the optimal constitutive parameters.
Step 4. Hunting. The position of the prey is recognized by
the grey wolves, then the grey wolves encircle the prey,
and eventually, the grey wolves attack the prey. This
process is mainly guided by the three grey wolf leaders
(α, β, δ), the remaining grey wolves (ω) follow the three
leaders. However, the search space of the problem is al-
ways abstract. There is no idea about the position of the
prey (optimal solution). Therefore, it’s supposed that the
three grey wolf leaders (the best three candidate solutions)
have a better ability to search for the potential location
of prey. Then the three leaders are retained in the cur-
rent population at each iteration, and the remaining
grey wolves’ positions are updated by the three leaders’
positions. The following expressions are used for
updating37,38
ðkÞ ðkÞ
ðkþ1Þ X þ X2 þ X3
X ¼ 1
3
where X1, X2, and X3 are calculated by equation (7)
ðkÞ ðkÞ ðkÞ ðkÞ
X1 ¼ XαðkÞ
A1  DαðkÞ , X2 ¼ Xβ
A2  Dβ ,
ðkÞ ðkÞ ðkÞ ðkÞ
X3 ¼ Xδ
A3  Dδ
where Dα, Dβ, Dδ are calculated by equation (8)
All experimental data are converted to the true stress–strain
curves. The plastic strain is calculated by εp ¼ ε
σ=E, in
which ε is the true strain, σ is the true stress, and E is
Young’s Modulus of 95W. During the dynamic tests, a
temperature rise due to plastic deformation of 95W should
be considered by equation (9)
Z
η
ΔT ¼ σdεp (9)
ρCp
where the fraction η of plastic work converted into heat is
considered as 0.9, ρ is the density of 95W, and Cp is the
specific heat of 95W. The material properties of 95W are
listed in Table 1.
Zerilli-Armstrong model
Zerilli-Armstrong model based on dislocation-mechanics is
a physical model, which considers the effects of strain
hardening, strain rate hardening, and thermal softening on
the flow stress. This model has different forms of expres-
sions for different crystal structure materials. Zerilli and
Armstrong18 proposed BCC material ZA model expressed
as equation (10) and FCC material ZA model expressed as
equation (11)

σ y ¼ c0 þ c1 exp
c3 T þ c4 T ln_εp þ c5 εnp (10)

ðkÞ
σ y ¼ c0 þc2 exp
c3 T þ c4 T ln_εp ε1=2 (11)
(6) p
where c0 ¼ σ 0 þ kl
1=2 is athermal stress, σ 0 is an addi-
tional portion of stress related to solutes and the original
ðkÞ ðkÞ dislocation density, k stands for the microstructural stress
strength, l stands for the average grain diameter, c1-c5 and n
are the constitutive parameters. The formulation of FCC
(7) material considers that thermal softening and strain rate
hardening are related to strain. In contrast, BCC material
formulation considers that thermal softening and strain rate
Lai et al. 3641

Table 2. The ranges of initial values for ZA model parameters of 95W.

c1 (MPa) c3 (K
1) c4 (K
1) c5 (MPa) n

4
5
4
4 4
[0, 10 ] [-5×10 , 0.2] [-1×10 , 2.5×10 ] [0, 10 ] [0.1, 0.6]

Table 3. Zerilli-Armstrong model parameters of 95W.

c0 (MPa) c1 (MPa) c3 (K
1) c4 (K
1) c5 (MPa) n

0 1457 1.8703×10
3 1.6296×10
4 1147 0.293

Figure 9. Evaluation results of ZA model.

Figure 7. The convergence curve of ZA model’s AARE.

Figure 8. Comparisons between fundamental experimental data and predicted curves of ZA model under different loading conditions: (a)
quasi-static condition, (b) 0.2 MPa, (c) 0.3 MPa, (d) 0.4 MPa, (e) 0.5 MPa, and (f) 0.6 MPa.

hardening are independent of strain. Some researchers, such
as Xu and Huang,32 used BCC material ZA model to de-
scribe the flow stress of WHAs because tungsten as the
main element is BCC structure. In this section, BCC ma-
terial ZA model is also employed to describe the flow
stress for 95W. The ranges of initial values for ZA model
parameters are listed in Table 2. The constitutive parameters
of ZA model are presented in Table 3. Among those pa-
rameters, c0 is obtained from Dümmer et al.25 Other pa-
rameters are obtained by fundamental experimental data
and the optimization of GWO. The convergence curve of
the objective function (AARE) of ZA model is shown in
3642 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 236(7)

Table 4. Modified ZA model parameters of 95W.

c0 (MPa) c1 (MPa) c3 (K
1) c4 (K
1) c5 (MPa) c6 (K
1) n

3
4
5
0 1457 1.8703×10 1.6296×10 1147 1.5110×10 0.293

Table 5. The ranges of initial values for p1-p6.

p1 (K
1) p2 (K
1) p3 (K) p4 (K) p5 p6

[-10
4, 10
5] [10
4, 10
2] [0,103] [-103, 10] [8, 2×104] [-0.02, 3×103]

Figure 7. It is seen that the convergence rate of GWO is very
fast, and the AARE can generally converge to a good value
within 1000 iterations. Therefore, the number of iterations
of GWO in the following sections is all set as 1000 iter-
ations. The results of comparisons between fundamental
experimental data and predicted curves of ZA model for
different loading conditions are plotted in Figure 8. In
Figure 9, there are a total of 336 pairs of selected points
from the experimental and predicted flow stress curves,
which are the same as the selected points described in
Section 4.1. These data points are used to calculate the
AARE and Rr. The AARE and Rr of ZA model, as shown in
Figure 9, are 3.5204% and 0.9363, respectively.
Modified ZA model
The Fe and Ni matrix of WHAs is FCC structure. Zerilli and
Armstrong20 developed a HCP material ZA model con-
sidering the Peierls stress type interactions (predominant
in BCC) and the intersection of forest dislocations type
interactions (predominant in FCC). Based on their study,
an M-ZA model considering the effects of FCC structure
on 95W is developed to improve the predicted perfor-
mance of ZA model. The formulation of M-ZA model is
written as follows
 range obstacles such as forest dislocations, which can be
σ y ¼ c0 þc1 exp
c3 T þ c4 T ln_εp
 (12)
þc5 exp
c6 T þ c7 T ln_εp εnp
where c0-c5 and n are the same as those used in ZA model,
c6 and c7 are the constitutive parameters of M-ZA model.
Among those parameters, firstly, c6 and c7 are considered as
two constants, which are obtained by GWO, and the pa-
rameters c0-c6 and n are presented in Table 4. Then, c7 is
modified as a variable related to temperatures and strain
rates, which is expressed by equation (13) as follows
tan
1 ½ðT
p3 Þ=p4 
c7 ¼ p1 þp2 0:5 þ
π contribution of the thermal activation energy,21 μ0 is the
( h . i)
tan
1
ln_εp
p5 p6
(13)
0:5 þ
π the thermal portion of the flow stress. In the thermally
where the fitting constants p1-p6 are obtained by GWO
when parameters c0-c6 and n are fixed as constants. The
ranges of initial values for p1-p6 are listed in Table 5. The
constants p1-p6 are presented in Table 6. Equation (13) is
found by using Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm in software
1stopt. The detailed relations between the parameter c7 and
different dynamic loading conditions are shown in
Figure 10. The convergence curve of the objective function
(AARE) of M-ZA model is shown in Figure 11. The results
of comparisons between fundamental experimental data
and predicted curves of M-ZA model for different loading
conditions are plotted in Figure 12. The AARE and Rr of M-
ZA model, as shown in Figure 13, are 2.9823% and 0.9581,
respectively.
Mechanical threshold stress model
The flow stress σ y of MTS model is considered as a function
of a mechanical threshold stress b
σ , which is the reference
stress or the flow stress at 0 K. Two parts are used to
characterize the mechanical threshold stress, as shown in
equation (14)21
b
σ¼b
σa þ b
σt (14)
where bσ a and b
σ t are the athermal portion and the thermal
portion, respectively. The former describes the rate-
independent interactions of dislocations with long-range
barriers such as grain boundaries, and the latter describes
the rate-dependent interactions of dislocations with short-
overcome by the thermal activation. The flow stress related
to the mechanical threshold stress can be expressed as
follows21,24
 μb
σt
σ a þ s ε_ p ,T
σy ¼ σa þ σt ¼ b (15)
μ0
where σ a ≡ bσ a is a constant, the factor sð_εp ,T Þ includes the
effects of strain rates and temperatures, which specifies the
ratio between the flow stress and the mechanical threshold
stress, and this factor is smaller than one for thermally
activated controlled glide because the stress required to
force a dislocation past an obstacle is reduced by the
shear modulus at 0 K, μ is the shear modulus at the current
temperature, which is defined by equation (16),22,24 σ t is
activated glide regime, the interaction kinetics for short-
range obstacles are described by an Arrhenius expression
as equation (17)21,24
Dr
μ ¼ μ0
(16)
expðTr =T Þ
1
Lai et al. 3643

Table 6. The fitting constants p1-p6.

p1 (K
1) p2 (K
1) p3 (K) p4 (K) p5 p6

5
4

1.3093×10 9.1054×10 733.9443
0.7654 504.1685 40.9273

Figure 10. The relations between parameter c7 and different loading conditions (strain rates and temperatures).

sð_ε,T Þ between flow stress and mechanical threshold stress

is expressed as follows
8 "  . # 91=p
 σ t =μ < k b T ln ε_ r ε_ p
1=q
=
s ε_ p ,T ¼ . ¼ 1

b
σ μ : g0 μb3 ;
t 0

(19)

The thermal portion σ t of the flow stress is composed of

two components as follows24-27
σt ¼ σi þ σe (20)

where σ i is the component of the flow stress due to intrinsic

Figure 11. The convergence curve of M-ZA model’s AARE.
barriers to thermally activated dislocation motion and
dislocation–dislocation interactions, σ e is the component of
the flow stress due to microstructural evolution with in-
creasing strain hardening. Therefore, equation (15) can
eventually be expressed as follows27

where Dr and Tr are the fitting constants. σy ¼ σa þ σi þ σe

   μbσi  μbσe

ΔG ¼b σ a þ si ε_ p ,T þ se ε_ p ,T
ε_ p ¼ ε_ r exp (17) μ0 μ0
kb T
8 "  . #1=qi 91=pi
where ε_ r is a constant, kb stands for the Boltzmann constant, < kb T ln ε_ ri ε_ p = μb σi
ΔG stands for the free energy that can be expressed by a ¼b σa þ 1
(21)
: g0i μb 3 ; μ0
phenomenological relation as equation (18)21,24
" !p #q 8 "  . # 91=pe
σ t =μ < kb T ln ε_ re ε_ p
1=qe
= μb
σe
ΔG ¼ g0 μb 1

3
. (18) þ 1

b
σ t μ0 : g0e μb 3 ; μ0

where g0 is regarded as a constant if the obstacle character
does not vary, b is the magnitude of the Burgers vector, and
p and q are constants that characterize the shape of the
obstacle profile (ðp 2 ½0,1, q 2 ½1,2Þ). After combining and
rearranging the above equations (17) and (18), the ratio
where b σ i stands for a component of mechanical threshold
stress mainly due to intrinsic barriers to thermally activated
dislocation motion, b σ e stands for a strain hardening com-
ponent of mechanical threshold stress. The strain hardening
θ ¼ db σ e =dεp is written as
3644 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 236(7)

Figure 12. Comparisons between fundamental experimental data and predicted curves of M-ZA model under different loading conditions:
(a) quasi-static condition, (b) 0.2 MPa, (c) 0.3 MPa, (d) 0.4 MPa, (e) 0.5 MPa, and (f) 0.6 MPa.

Table 7. The ranges of initial values for σ a, b

σ i , g0i, σ 0es, g0es, and
θ 0.

σ a ðMPaÞ b
σ i ðMPaÞ g0i σ 0es ðMPaÞ g0es θ0 ðMPaÞ

[0, 100] [0, 104] [0, 1] [0, 103] [-0.8, 1] [0, 2×104]

ranges of initial values for the above six parameters are

listed in Table 7. Other parameters are obtained from Chen
and Gray24 and Dümmer et al.25 The constitutive param-
eters of MTS model are presented in Table 8. The con-
vergence curve of the objective function (AARE) of MTS
model is shown in Figure 14. The results of comparisons
between fundamental experimental data and predicted
curves of MTS model for different loading conditions are
plotted in Figure 15. The AARE and Rr of MTS model, as
shown in Figure 16, are 3.2361% and 0.9453, respectively.
Figure 13. Evaluation results of M-ZA model.

2 !3 Modified MTS model

γb
σe
6 tanh
bσes
σa 7 The hardening rate θ0 is supposed to be a constant in the
6 7
θ ¼ θ0 6
6 1
7
7 (22) theoretical study of Follansbee and Kocks21; however, they
4 tanhðγÞ 5 found that θ0 has a definite strain rate dependence according
to the experimental data, and an empirical expression of θ0
related to strain rates is given as follows
where θ0 is the rate of change of the mechanical threshold 
stress with strain at zero strain,23 γ stands for linear variation θ0 ¼ a1 þa2 ln ε_ p þ a3 ε_ p (24)
of strain hardening rate with stress,24 the saturation threshold
stress b
σ es is related to strain rates and temperatures, which can where a1-a3 are fitting constants obtained by experimental
be expressed by following equation (23)21,24,27 data. In MTS model illustrated above, θ0 is considered as a
! ! constant, which is independent of strain rates and tem-
b
σ es kb T ε_ p peratures. However, it’s found that θ0 is not a constant by
ln ¼ ln (23)
b
σ 0es g0es μb3 ε_ res comparing predicted curves and experimental data, and θ0
is related not only to strain rates but also to temperatures. To
where bσ 0es , g0es , ε_ res are constants. Among MTS model improve the predicted performance of MTS model, an M-
parameters, ε_ ri ¼ ε_ re ¼ 4:5 × 104 s
1 and ε_ res ¼ 106 s
1 MTS model is developed by considering that θ0 depends on
are set by experience. σ a, b σ i , g0i, σ 0es, g0es, and θ0 are both strain rates and temperatures. The expression of θ0 can
obtained by fundamental experimental data and GWO. The be written as follows
Lai et al. 3645

Table 8. Mechanical Threshold Stress model parameters of 95W24,25.

σ a ðMPaÞ μ0 ðGPaÞ Dr ðGPaÞ Tr ðKÞ kb =b3 ðMPa=KÞ

35 159.5 33.69 1217 0.671

b
σ i ðMPaÞ ε_ ri ðs
1 Þ g0i qi pi
1924 4.5×104 8.5123×10
2 1.5 0.5
ε_ re ðs
1 Þ g0e qe pe γ
4.5×104 1.6 1.0 2/3 1.0
σ 0es ðMPaÞ g0es ε_ res ðs
1 Þ θ0 ðMPaÞ
452
3.8709×10
2 106 6632

Figure 16. Evaluation results of mechanical threshold stress

Figure 14. The convergence curve of MTS model’s AARE. model.

Figure 15. Comparisons between fundamental experimental data and predicted curves of MTS model under different loading conditions:
(a) quasi-static condition, (b) 0.2 MPa, (c) 0.3 MPa, (d) 0.4 MPa, (e) 0.5 MPa, and (f) 0.6 MPa.

tan
1 ½ðT
q3 Þ=q4  where the fitting constants q1-q6 are obtained by GWO
θ0 ¼ q1 þ q2 0:5 þ when other parameters are fixed as constants. The ranges
π
( h . i) (25)
of initial values for q1-q6 are listed in Table 9. The con-
tan
1 ln_εp
q5 q6 stants q1-q6 are listed in Table 10. The other constitutive
0:5 þ parameters of M-MTS model are the same as those used in
π
MTS model listed in Table 8. Equation (25) is found by
3646 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 236(7)

Table 9. The ranges of initial values for q1-q6. plastic strain when temperatures and strain rates change,
which illustrates that ZA model is not suitable for materials
q1 (MPa) q2 (MPa) q3 (K) q4 (K) q5 q6
whose strain hardening behaviors depend on temperatures
3 4 3 4
[10 , 10 ] [10 , 10 ] [100, 850] [-10, 10] [7, 9] [-1, 1] and strain rates. However, Figure 8 shows that strain

Table 10. The fitting constants q1-q6.

q1 (MPa) q2 (MPa) q3 (K) q4 (K) q5 q6

6073.6382 4794.1411 404.5134 3.6525 8.3170
1.9540×10
2

Figure 17. The relations between parameter θ0 and different loading conditions (strain rates and temperatures).

using Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm in software 1stopt.

The detailed relations between the parameter θ0 and dif-
ferent dynamic loading conditions are shown in Figure 17.
The convergence curve of the objective function (AARE)
of M-MTS model is shown in Figure 18. The results of
comparisons between fundamental experimental data and
predicted curves of M-MTS model for different loading
conditions are plotted in Figure 19. The AARE and Rr of
M-MTS model, as shown in Figure 20, are 2.5367% and
0.9608, respectively.

Discussion
Comparisons based on the
fundamental experiments
Comparisons of the four constitutive models’ predicted
performance based on expressions and the agreement be-
tween predicted curves and the fundamental experimental
data are conducted in this part. The evaluation results of all
constitutive models in describing fundamental experimental
data are shown in Figure 21.
The four models’ expressions all consider strain hard-
ening, strain rate hardening, and thermal softening. How-
ever, strain hardening is the focus of discussion. Firstly, the
expressions of the original ZA model and M-ZA model are
analyzed. The form of ZA model expression is relatively
simpler than other physical constitutive models. The
number of parameters of ZA model is only six. The process
to fit ZA model’s parameters is relatively convenient. The
parameters c5 and n, which are used to describe strain
hardening behaviors, are two constants in ZA model’s
expression. It means that strain hardening is constant at each
Figure 18. The convergence curve of M-MTS model’s AARE.
M-MTS: a modified MTS; AARE: average absolute relative
error.
hardening behaviors of 95W have some differences when
the loading conditions are at different temperatures and
strain rates. Hence, the predicted performance of ZA model
is the worst of the four models. The AARE and Rr of ZA
model are 3.5204% and 0.9363, respectively. Therefore, an
M-ZA model is developed to increase the predicted per-
formance of ZA model. The influences of FCC matrix are
taken into consideration in the expression of M-ZA model
by a combination of BCC material ZA model expressed as
equation (10) and FCC material ZA model expressed as
equation (11). The final expression of M-ZA model is
Lai et al. 3647

Figure 19. Comparisons between fundamental experimental data and predicted curves of M-MTS model under different loading
conditions: (a) quasi-static condition, (b) 0.2 MPa, (c) 0.3 MPa, (d) 0.4 MPa, (e) 0.5 MPa, and (f) 0.6 MPa.

Figure 20. Evaluation results of modified MTS model.

written as equation (12). It is seen that equation (12) can

degenerate as equation (10) when c6=c7=0. Similarly,
equation (12) can degenerate as equation (11) when c1=0
and n=1/2. Therefore, M-ZA model considers both BCC
crystal structure and FCC crystal structure in 95W. Strain
hardening of M-ZA model is related to temperatures and
strain rates by the term c5 expð
c6 T þ c7 T ln_εp Þεnp in
equation (12), and equation (13) shows that c7 is regarded as
a variable depending on temperatures and strain rates to
improve M-ZA model’s performance in describing strain
hardening behaviors of 95W. The AARE and Rr of M-ZA
model are 2.9823% and 0.9581, respectively. Compared
with ZA model’s predicted performance, M-ZA model’s
predicted performance has a distinct improvement. As for
the original MTS model, the expression consists of three Figure 21. The predicted performance of the four models in
parts, that is, σ a ≡ b
σ a (the athermal portion), σ i (the thermal describing fundamental experimental data: (a) AARE and (b) Rr.
portion of the flow stress due to intrinsic barriers to thermally
activated dislocation motion and dislocation–dislocation inter- hardening of the mechanical threshold stress is represented by
actions), and σ e (the component of the flow stress due to mi- θ ¼ db σ e =dεp ¼ θ0 ½1
tanhðγb
σ e =ðb
σ es
σ a ÞÞ=tanhðγÞ. θ0 is
crostructural evolution with increasing strain hardening). Strain the rate of change of the mechanical threshold stress with strain at
3648
Figure 22. The predicted performance of the four models in
describing the quasi-static compression experiment conducted
under 298 K and 0.1 s
1 (The AARE is calculated by this quasi-
static loading condition).
zero strain, which is regarded as a constant in the original MTS
model. However, Strain hardening of MTS model is still related
to temperatures and strain rates by the term se ð_εp ,T Þμbσ e =μ0 .
Therefore, the predicted performance of MTS model is slightly
better than it of ZA model. The AARE and Rr of MTS model
are 3.2361% and 0.9453, respectively. Subsequently, an M-
MTS model is developed to increase the predicted perfor-
mance of MTS model. In the expression of M-MTS model,
θ0 is considered as a variable depending on temperatures and
strain rates to increase the ability to describe strain hardening
behaviors of 95W. θ0 is expressed as equation (25). The
AARE and Rr of M-MTS model are 2.5367% and 0.9608,
respectively. Hence, it is concluded that M-MTS model has
the highest predicted performance in describing fundamental
experimental data, and M-ZA model also has the excellent
predicted performance that is closest to the predicted per-
formance of M-MTS model. Since the Rr values of all models
are very high (higher than 0.93) and close to each other, the
following discussion is mainly based on the AARE.
Constitutive models validation
The applicability of a constitutive model depends not only
on the ability to describe fundamental experimental data but
Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 236(7)
Figure 23. The predicted performance of the four models in
describing the dynamic compression experiment conducted
under 473 K and 3300 s
1 (The AARE is calculated by this dynamic
loading condition).
also on the ability to describe other experimental data (the
loading conditions are not in the fundamental experiments).
The four models’ evaluation results in describing another
quasi-static compression experiment conducted under
298 K and 0.1 s
1 are shown in Figure 22.
It is observed that MTS model has the lowest AARE and
M-MTS model has the second lowest AARE in describing the
quasi-static compression experiment conducted under 298 K
and 0.1 s
1. ZA model and M-ZA model have similar predicted
performance in this evaluation. All models can well predict
experimental data, and all AARE values are lower than 5%.
The four models’ evaluation results in describing an-
other dynamic compression experiment conducted under
473 K and 3300 s
1 are shown in Figure 23.
It is obvious that the predicted curves of the four models
have good agreement with experimental data. The AARE
values of all models are less than 4%. M-MTS model has
the best predicted performance in describing the dynamic
compression experiment conducted under 473 K and
3300 s
1. Therefore, it is concluded that even if the loading
conditions are not in the fundamental experiments, the four
models can still have good predicted performance, which
also validates these models, and M-MTS model is still the
best model to describe the experimental data.
Lai et al.
Conclusions
The fundamental experiments at temperatures of 298–
773 K and strain rates of 0.001–11,000 s
1 are systemat-
ically performed. The fundamental experimental data and
GWO are used to establish the four constitutive models (ZA
model, M-ZA model, MTS model, and M-MTS model).
These constitutive models are employed to describe the
flow stress of 95W, and comparative studies of these
constitutive models are conducted. The main conclusions
are listed as follows:
1. Grey Wolf Optimizer is very suitable for estimating
the parameters of the constitutive models based on
fundamental experimental data, and GWO has no
specific limitation on the number of parameters of
the models, which is very flexible. The iterative
process of GWO generally has good convergence
and a faster convergence rate.
2. In describing fundamental experimental data, M-
MTS model has the highest predicted perfor-
mance. The AARE and Rr of M-MTS model are
2.5367% and 0.9608, respectively. M-ZA model has
the second best predicted performance. The AARE
and Rr of M-ZA model are 2.9823% and 0.9581,
respectively. The original ZA and MTS models have
similar predicted performance, which is enough to
describe the flow stress of 95W but weaker than the
predicted performance of M-ZA model. The pre-
dicted curves of the four models correlate well with
the experimental data. The Rr values of all models
are higher than 0.93.
3. In the validation of the four models, there is good
agreement between the four models’ predicted
curves and the experimental data. In describing the
quasi-static compression experiment conducted
under 298 K and 0.1 s
1, the AARE values of all
models are lower than 5%. In describing the dy-
namic compression experiment conducted under
473 K and 3300 s
1, the AARE values of all
models are lower than 4%. M-MTS model is still the
best model to describe the experimental data.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with re-
spect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support
for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article:The
authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the support
provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(Grant Nos. 51775457, 51875487).
ORCID iD
Zhanjiang Wang  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0818-2577
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