Key Engineering Materials Vols. 554-557

Abstract: Nowadays the fiber reinforced materials are finding more and more widespread use in aeronautic field due to their features of lightness, high strength and flexibility of manufacturing systems. The only way for metals to remain competitive for the aerospace applications is to improve new technologies and alloys in order to realize lighter and more resistant structures. The development of new alloys (lighter and stronger) and technologies will allow to use metals also in the future for aerospace applications. In this scenario the research activity has a fundamental importance, and the key point is to work simultaneously on both innovative materials and new technologies that allow to obtain the best performances with the innovative alloys. Welding is nowadays playing a fundamental role in transport industry thanks to the important advantages it allows. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) [1] is one of the most promising welding techniques, particularly suitable for applying to light alloys. FSW in butt joint configuration allows to achieve very high mechanical performances, often absolutely superior to those achievable with all other joining techniques, and lots of researches and results are now available [2]. The AA 2139 is an innovative Al-Cu-Ag alloy that has higher mechanical performances than the conventional 2xxx series aluminum alloys. The AA 2139 is designed to work in service in T8 temper condition, but is simplest to work in T3 temper condition. The aim of this work is to compare the performances of AA 2139 butt joints welded in T8 temper conditions, presented in a previous work [3], with the ones of joints welded in T3 condition and heat treated post welding in order to achieve the T8 temper condition.

Abstract: The present research activity aims at studying different conditions for the circumferential friction stir welding of cylindrical components in aluminium alloy. Different parameters have been considered, such as the rotational velocity of the tool, the tangential velocity of the cylindrical elements and the number of welding passes. The obtained data have been analysed and the strength of each joint modelled. It has been observed a relevant effect of the combination between the rotational velocity of the tool and the tangential velocity of the cylindrical components on the strength of the joint.

Abstract: Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid state welding process patented in 1991 by TWI; initially adopted to weld aluminum alloys, is now being successfully used also for magnesium alloys, copper and steels. The wide diffusion the process is having is due to the possibility to weld materials traditionally considered difficult to be welded or “unweldable” by traditional fusion welding processes due to peculiar thermal and chemical material properties. Additionally, the process allows welding a wide range of sheet thickness (up to 50mm) avoiding typical fusion welding processes defects, like cavities and porosities, with no shielding gas, filling material or joint preparation. Recently, research is focusing on titanium alloys thanks to the high interest that such materials are getting from the industry due to the extremely high strength-weight ratio together with good corrosion resistance properties. Welding of titanium alloys by traditional fusion welding techniques presents several difficulties due to high material reactivity resulting in bonding with oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen with consequent embrittlement of the joint. In this way FSW can represent a cost effective and high quality solution. A few studies have been developed on the FSW of titanium alloys butt joints, while there is a complete lack of knowledge as far as different joint morphologies are regarded (lap joints, T joints, etc.). In the paper the results of an experimental campaign on lap joints made out of thin Ti-6Al-4V sheets are presented. The effect of the main process parameters on the micro and macro mechanical properties has been investigated and related to the microstructural transformations occurring during the process because of the thermo-mechanical action of the tool.

Abstract: Hybrid materials offer great potential for weight and cost reduction, function integration and improved mechanical properties. A whole range of parts or application areas are conceivable (especially in the field of lightweight design). In terms of implementation, it is possible to produce fully or partially joined semi-finished parts from metallic, organic or inorganic materials. Semi-finished parts of this type can be used in applications ranging from simple reinforcements to complex hollow structures in automobiles. Innovative production processes are necessary for the efficient manufacture of these parts. This is why the current research and development work is focused on making complex, hollow work pieces from hybrid semi-finished materials and on manufacturing methods for the partially joined semi-finished parts. A new and innovative incremental joining process with inline electrochemical treatment is opening up interesting perspectives here. For the manufacture of complex work pieces, the use of adapted sheet-metal-forming processes, like deep drawing or working-media-based high pressure forming, is highly promising and will be addressed in the paper.

Abstract: In industrial practice of rolling and hot forging, i.e. extrusion-type forging, abruptchanges in strain rate during the deformation of the material occur. For accurate numericalsimulation of a forging process, the experimental investigation of the effect of the transient changein strain rate on plastic flow behaviour is necessary. The present paper deals with the investigationof this effect on the flow stress of an AD-35 aluminium alloy during its deformation within thetemperature range of 350-450 °C. During continuous uniaxial compression loading of a cylindricalspecimen, the strain rate was either constant or abruptly increased or decreased from its initial valueat engineering strain of app. 26 %. The following strain-rate histories were applied: 1) constantstrain rate of 0.1, 1.0 and 10 s-1; 2) abrupt strain-rate increasing from 1.0 to 10.0 s-1; 3) abrupt strainratedecreasing from 10.0 to 1.0 s-1. The results of the experimental investigations corresponded tothe transient change in strain rate histories were used to verify the model of softening as well as themodel of hardening of the AD-35 alloy during the abrupt change of the strain rate. It allows todefine these models explicitly.

Abstract: Picture frame shear tests are state of the art for determining the shear force vs. shear angle behaviour for in-plane deformation of most technical textiles, such as woven fabrics. Many publications describe this test and the used picture frames. Benchmark tests showed that the measured shearing behaviour for one sample depends on the picture frame used. The shearing rigidity of most textiles is very small compared to the in-plane tensile stiffness, so slight imperfections on the experimental setup have a significant effect on the measured results. During the picture frame test, wrinkles may form on the sample surface during the motion of the picture frame above a critical shear angle. These wrinkles can be described as local fabric buckling. If forming of wrinkles leads to a lower level of internal energy compared to a further shearing of the fabric, local wrinkles occur due to the principle of least action. Because of this effect, the measured shear force above the first formation of wrinkles is inaccurate for describing the exact shearing behaviour of textiles. Another possibility for measuring the shear force vs. shear angle behaviour is the bias-extension test. Here, higher shear angles can be achieved without the formation of wrinkles. Both methods are compared in this paper for different textile samples. The relationship of the shear angle and the applied shear force is an important mechanical value and one of the most important input parameter in numerical drape simulations. The analysis of wrinkles, which occur during textile draping, demands exact input parameters for the simulation. Most important for the drape simulation of technical high-performance textiles are accurate values for the bending and shear behaviours. This paper presents simulation results of the wrinkling during a picture frame shear test. Results show that the input parameter for the shear rigidity delivered by the picture frame shear test do not exactly reproduce the formed wrinkles and are, therefore, not suitable for an exact drape simulation. The underestimation of the shear force vs. shear angle behaviour will be shown with a finite element simulation model. The adaptation of the picture-frame and bias-extension parameters for a proper use in numerical drape simulations are examined.

Abstract: This article discusses the characterization and modeling of the elastic behavior of a semi-hard steel used in incremental forming operations which implies great loading speeds at high temperatures and large springback after each passage of the roller. The knowledge of the elastic behavior is essential to correctly predict these springbacks during forming. The objective is therefore on the one hand the characterization of the elastic response of the material under different conditions and on the other hand the definition of a model that describes the material behavior with as much precision as possible. To this end, two models, one phenomenological and the other built on more physical basis, are considered.

Abstract: Damage of metals subjected to large plastic deformations typical for forming processes is mainly governed by void nucleation, growth and coalescence. An opposite process may occur in deformation processes with negative stress triaxialities: the closure of strain-induced defects under large hydrostatic pressure. Understanding the mechanisms of damage growth and healing under plastic deformation of metals is still an urgent problem. In order to solve it a theoretical framework for anisotropic ductile damage based on a physically motivated concept for changes in the void volume and shape was recently developed [6]. Strain-induced damage was experimentally determined during uniaxial compression of cylindrical metallic specimens with artificial voids represented by fully-trough drilled holes. It was revealed that the governing physical mechanism of failure is a change in void shapes due to compressive stresses at low negative stress triaxialities in contrast to the growth of voids volume due to high positive stress triaxialities in the processes with dominating tensile stresses. The tensorial model presented in [6] proved to be able to describe kinetics of ductile damage, failure as the ultimate damage, and the closure of voids at negative stress triaxialities.

Abstract: The complex loading paths of non-conventional or rapid forging processes, especially as regards the important gradients of the plastic strain and strain rate characterizing the material deformation, require a reliable knowledge of the rheological constitutive equations. Some recent studies propose adequate phenomenological formulations taking into account the corresponding local physical mechanisms and the sensitivity of the true stress with respect to all mechanical variables. At the same time important scientific efforts have been focused in order to identify correctly all the constitutive law parameters, using adequate mechanical tests and robust numerical tools based generally on the inverse analysis principle. It is known that this new method requires building of a rigorous and adequate experimental space, using data obtained from loading conditions close to the industrial forming process. Then to explore high variations of plastic strain and strain rate, one of the most suitable tests are based on high speed hydraulically press and on the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bars test (SHPB). Consequently this paper propose to improve the experimental data accuracy obtained from the SHPB device by using finite element simulations of the entire high speed mechanical experiment together with the description of the inverse analysis strategy applied in order to analyze the thermo-mechanical constitutive behavior of metallic materials behavior and to identify the corresponding rheological parameters. The first part of this study will be dedicated to a short description of the experimental SHPB test analysis and to the analysis of the measurement data which can be used to describe the real mechanical loadings of the specimen. A new experimental calibration method of the acquisition signals, based on the finite element modeling of the elastic bars deformation during an impact without specimen, will be detailed. Using ABAQUS and CAST3M software, this method is validated from the comparison of the elastic strains variation obtained by the numerical simulations. In a second part will be detailed the inverse analysis strategy together with a real application concerning the rheological behavior of an aluminum alloy using a “dumbbell” specimen during a high speed upsetting test starting from a proposed constitutive relationship. Finally, special “cap” geometries of the material sample will be analyzed during a SHPB compression test in order to understand the feasibility of the proposed method to expand the material constitutive behavior identification to severe loadings. It is then shown the capacity to describe deformation path close to the rapid manufacturing processes and high speed machining.

Abstract: Non-uniqueness of the set of active slip systems is a crucial issue in crystal plasticity. To avoid this problem one may perform viscoplastic regularization. This introduces a certain rate dependency, while many crystals are known to behave rate independently. One would require very low viscosity parameters in the regularized model to resemble the experimental behavior of rate independent crystals, which in turn entails numerical difficulties. Furthermore, no direct approach is known to model deformation banding using viscoplastically regularized models. Hence, to adequately treat rate independent crystal plasticity an alternative method is needed. The proposed method, Maximum Dissipation Crystal Plasticity (MDCP), achieves uniqueness by selecting the set of active slip systems according to its dissipation. In a finite element calculation, a system of coupled quadratic equations is solved at every integration point to define the material behaviour. This approach is formally equal to the method of incremental energy minimization recently proposed by Petryk et al. It can be shown that a viscoplastically regularized model is a limiting case of MDCP, giving similar results when cross hardening becomes negligible. Nevertheless, recent 3D dislocation dynamics calculations by Devrince et al. show that cross hardening in fcc crystals is far more important than self hardening. In such cases MDCP gives results distinctly different from its rate dependent counterpart. Fewer slip systems are selected by MDCP, resulting in more slip on the individual active systems. The proposed method is numerically implemented as an Abaqus user material subroutine within the large deformation framework, such that the simulation of arbitrary load cases is possible.