**Preface to "Applications of Crystal Plasticity in Forming Technologies"**

Materials science advancements have led to the development of complex materials for targeted applications and have pushed manufacturing boundaries. However, because the microstructural characteristics are responsible for its bulk deformation behavior and life after failure, it is critical to acquire the appropriate material properties required for safe performance during service life when engineering the microstructural attributes. Recently, the development of microstructurally informed detailed models to investigate the global and local deformation behavior of single- and multi-phase materials has been facilitated by crystal plasticity-based numerical simulation models. They have helped to study the effect of the microstructural features on deformation and damage behavior under multiaxial loading conditions. Furthermore, these models can be used with machine learning techniques to optimize microstructural features for materials application or in a process route.

In this Special Issue, we have gathered work on simulations of polycrystalline metals and alloys at various length scales to model multiscale localization phenomena such as slip bands, cracks, and twins. This collection of articles discusses cutting-edge methods that integrate simulation and experiments to capture the creation of materials and use materials informatics to analyze sizable datasets and direct the development of continuum or microstructural theories.

> **Ulrich Prahl, Sergey Guk, and Faisal Qayyum** *Editors*
