A strain reversal produces microstructural and mechanical transients that cannot be described with conventional models applicable under monotonic deformation conditions. State-of-the-art models incorporating plastic strain path effects are polarized into continuum constitutive models of cyclic plasticity and multiscale constitutive approaches extrapolating crystallographic hardening models for monocrystals to polycrystals. The present work proposes a model midway between these two approaches that describes the mechanical transient through a combined kinematic-isotropic hardening model and the microstructural transient and its effect on the subsequent static recrystallization kinetics. The incorporation of an effective strain concept makes the link among the different submodels and allows for the first time an accurate reproduction with a reduced number of parameters both for mechanical and microstructural experimental data during the transient following a strain reversal.
