Key Engineering Materials Vols. 651-653

Abstract: Medium-Mn steels are one of the promising candidates to achieve the desired mechanical properties in the 3^rd generation of cold rolled advanced high strength steels (AHSS) for automotive applications. Their duplex microstructure consists of a ferritic matrix with a substantial amount of metastable retained austenite, which transforms to strain-induced martensite upon forming. This strengthening mechanism, well known as the TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) effect, provides the steel an excellent combination of high strength and elongation with a product of R_mxA₈₀ up to 30.000 MPa%. As hot rolling is one of the crucial steps during their production, the hot deformation behavior of Medium-Mn steels has to be thoroughly evaluated during their development stage.Therefore, the present contribution studied the hot deformation response of a 0.1 %C 5.5 %Mn steel by means of hot compression tests using a Gleeble^® 3800 device. The influence of different deformation temperatures (900-1100 °C) and strain rates (0.1-10 s^-1) on the stress-strain behavior was investigated. The flow curves were analyzed and corrected by the effects of adiabatic heating.Furthermore, the strain rate sensitivity m of the material was determined by evaluating stress values at different strain rates for given temperatures and strains. The m-values can be used to predict the deformation behavior of the material within the investigated range of parameters.Lastly, the hot working behavior of an alternative steel concept for a 3^rd Generation AHSS with significantly lower Mn-content was comparatively investigated.

Abstract: In this work, the formability behavior of Interstitial-Free (IF) steel sheet, grade DC07 with 0.65 mm of nominal thickness, was evaluated by means of both linear and bi-linear strain-paths to define the Forming Limit Curve (FLC) at the onset of necking according to ASTM E22182 standard. In the first strain-path, flat-bottomed punch with 200 mm diameter and 10 mm corner die radius was adopted together with counter-blanks of an IF steel sheet grade DC07 with 0.80 mm nominal thickness in order to yield two equal amounts of plastic work under uniaxial tension and under equibiaxial stretching strain-paths. Afterwards, Nakajima’s 100 mm hemispherical punch stretching procedure and bulge tests were adopted to determine the FLC of both as-received and strained DC07 blanks with the help of an automated digital image correlation system to define the linear and bi-linear limit strains. Increasing the straining level (5 and 10%) of the first strain-path in uniaxial tension improved the limit strains of the DC07 steel sheet between the plane-strain intercept (FLC₀) and the biaxial stretching region of the FLC. On the other hand, blanks which were firstly pre-strained in equibiaxial stretching mode (4.8 and 9%) provided better formability in the FLC drawing region and reduced limit strains in plane-strain and biaxial stretching regions.

Abstract: In the manufacturing of mass products, material and energy costs are an important part of the total costs. Competitiveness in the production of raw materials can only be maintained if waste of material is minimized and a high productivity is ensured. An outcome of these efforts is the further development of conventional cropping. High-speed cropping is characterized by the cropping speed as far as tooling is concerned. The cropping tool is accelerated up to a blade speed of 8 to 10 m/sec. This increase in cropping speed influences the surface quality of the specimens.This paper is mainly focused on the experimental investigation into the high-speed cropping in bulk metal forming. The first part of this investigation presents a comparison between conventional and high-speed cropping to demonstrate the difference between both methods. In this case study, materials of different mechanical strength are examined. The produced specimens are analysed with an optical system (GOM ATOS) to determine their geometrical properties, such as end-face flatness, ovality, and the draw-in of the specimens. The second part examines stress superposition. Here stress is superimposed on the specimens during cutting to trigger off an earlier failure of the investigated material. High-speed cropping with stress superposition is aimed at reducing the draw-in of the investigated samples. The results of this will be compared with the results of the first part to show the difference between high-speed cropping with and without stress superposition.

Abstract: Optical measuring systems enable a very accurate determination of the flow stress for the hydraulic bulge test. The flow stress is strain rate and temperature dependent and for the description of work hardening an approximation of the temperature during the test is required. Measuring the temperature during the test usually interferes with the optical strain measurement. A model for the temperature distribution on the bulged surface is developed based on heat generated by plastic work, convection to air on the outer surface, conduction to the tools at the die diameter and conduction to oil on the inside. The plastic work is derived from an approximation of the shape of the bulged surface and an approximation for the thickness distribution, starting from the initial thickness at the die ring to the established thickness at the pole, making use of volume conservation for the bulged sheet. The parameters of the model are tuned to bulge test temperature measurements of four different steel grades using a thermo couple at the pole. The results of the analytical temperature model are in good agreement with the measurements.

Abstract: This research focuses on the prediction of the forming limit of certain Advanced High Strength Steel grades under stretch-bending conditions. For these types of steels it is experimentally observed and shown that when there is a bending component added to the main membrane deformation the formability predicted by the regular FLCs underestimate the material behavior. Due to the added effects of thickness stress due to contact and small radius bending as well as bending stresses, a through-thickness stress gradient forms which gives additional stability to the material beyond the forming limits determined by tests that generate mostly uniform membrane deformation. It is observed experimentally and by the detailed simulations that the cross-sectional stability is not lost instantaneously but gradually. A surface dent forms first on the outer surface and progresses in a stable manner towards the contact side since on the contact side the material has still potential to harden. This process delays the localization of the strains and stabilizes the formation of the local neck. For the prediction of this phenomenon theoretically and using shell elements, a modified incremental form of the maximum tension stability criterion is proposed to be applied at integration points through thickness. It is shown that with this criterion the phenomenon of gradual loss of stability can be captured during stretch-bending with shell elements.

Abstract: A comparative study on the formability prediction of a ferritic steel sheet by anisotropic models based on associated flow rule and non-associated rule is carried out. The uniaxial tensile tests along seven directions of the sheet from rolling direction to transverse direction with an interval of 15° are performed for the anisotropic yield stress and r-value. For the biaxial stress state, both bulge test and punch test are performed. The BBC2003 based on the associated flow rule is employed and its anisotropic parameters are calibrated to the yield stresses and r-values from the tensile tests along rolling direction, transverse direction and diagonal direction and the biaxial test. The non-associated quadratic Hill48 model is also calibrated to the same set of experimental data. Similar level of the predicative capability on the yield and plastic deformation directionality by the associated and non-associated based models is observed. With the common basis on the anisotropic plasticity characteristics, they are combined with the Marciniak–Kuczynski (MK) model to predict the formability of the steel sheet and distinct difference in the prediction is observed between the two models.

Abstract: Dynamic recrystallization processes in heat-resistant Ni-based alloy was investigated depending on temperature, strain rate and deformation ratio. Recrystallization intensity is determined by the temperature and deformation conditions. The factors that increase the degree of dynamic recrystallization include temperature and amount of strain increasing, as well as decreasing of strain rate. Increasing the volume fraction of recrystallized structure causes a uniform fine-grained structure.

Abstract: Anisotropic mechanical behavior is investigated for an aluminum alloy of 6K21-IH T4 both in plastic deformation and ductile fracture. Anisotropic plastic deformation is characterized by uniaxial tensile tests of dog-bone specimens, while anisotropy in ductile fracture is illustrated with specimens with a central hole, notched specimens and shear specimens. All these specimens are cut off at every 15º from the rolling direction. The r-values and uniaxial tensile yield stresses are measured from the tensile tests of dog-bone specimens. Then the anisotropic plasticity is modeled by a newly proposed J2-J3 criterion under non-associate flow rule (non-AFR). The testing processes of specimens for ductile fracture analysis are simulated to extract the maximum plastic strain at fracture strokes as well as the evolution of the stress triaxiality and the Lode parameter in different testing directions. The measured fracture behavior is described by a shear-controlled ductile fracture criterion proposed by Lou et al. (2014. Modeling of shear ductile fracture considering a changeable cut-off value for stress triaxiality. Int. J. Plasticity 54, 56-80) for different loading directions. It is demonstrated that the anisotropic plastic deformation is described by the J2-J3 criterion with high accuracy in various loading conditions including shear, uniaxial tension and plane strain tension. Moreover, the anisotropy in ductile fracture is not negligible and cannot be modeled by isotropic ductile fracture criteria. Thus, an anisotropic model must be proposed to accurately illustrate the directionality in ductile fracture.

Abstract: The present paper aims to assess the accuracy of identification methods used in the evaluation of the flow stress relationship of tubular materials for hydroforming applications. Based on experimental data acquired from home designed and manufactured experimental tool and results collected from literature, flow stress parameters are determined using both analytical and inverse identification methods. The obtained results are coped to experimental measurements to validate the proposed approaches. It is shown from the analysis based on the comparative assessment of flow stress inferred from tube bulge test that, inverse parameter identification method is the appropriate methodology that contribute to a more accurate tube hydroforming characterization.

Abstract: In the present study, the Bauschinger effect exhibited in the advanced high strength steel under cyclic bending and reversed bending deformation was examined by both the experimental approach and the finite element analysis. The cyclic tension-compression tests were first conducted for the DP590 steel sheet to determine the material constants required in the Yoshida-Uemori model used in the finite element simulations. Since the deformation mode occurred in the reversed bending tests is similar to that presented in the sheet metal passing across the draw bead or die corner, a three-point reversed bending test apparatus was also developed and the experiments were conducted in the present study. The reversed bending test results clearly demonstrate that the Bauschinger effect presents in the reversed bending process. It confirms that the cyclic reversed bending tests can be applied to examine the Bauschinger effect exhibited in the sheet metal forming process. The finite element analysis was also performed to simulate both the U-hat bending and cyclic reversed bending processes. The comparison of the simulation results with the experimental data reveals that the finite element predictions in both springback and reversed bending load are more accurate if the Yoshida-Uemori model is adopted. It implies that consideration of the Bauschinger effect is necessary in the sheet metal forming if a reversed loading path is present during the forming process.