Experimental study on the forming characteristics of 1.5 GPa ultrahigh-strength dual-phase steel

The DP1500 steel series successfully produced by Baosteel is a marked improvement over the cold-rolled hot-dip galvanized dual-phase steel series.Sufficient parameter data related to forming characteristics are needed for the successful application of dual-phase steel series in engineering structures.Therefore,differences in the mech-anical properties,forming limit,hole expansion ratio,and stretch bend limit of the 1.5 GPa ultrahigh-strength steel,including DP1500,QP1500,and MS1500,have been systematically studied.Results show that the DP1500 exhibits good plastic deformation performance and approximately 5% uniform elongation,and its true major strain minimum on the forming limit curve(FLC_(0)) value is approximately 0.083,which is higher and lower than the FLC_(0) values of MS1500 and QP1500 of the same strength grade,respectively.DP1500 also exhibits good flanging and pore expansion capabilities and superior performance to QP1500 and MS1500.The minimum radius-to-thickness(R/T) ratio(1.4) of DP1500 in the 90° bend tests transverse to the rolling direction is between the R/T ratios of MS1500 and the QP1500.Overall,the formability performance of DP1500 is between that of MS1500 and QP1500.Its excellent crash energy absorption and formability performance render it a suitable structural component,and it has been successfully tested and verified on a typical complex ultrahigh-strength steel skeleton structure.

Forming limit of textured AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet at different temperatures

Repeated unidirectional bending （RUB） was carried out to improve the texture of commercial AZ31B magnesium alloy sheets. All specimens were prepared in the rolling direction. The forming limit diagrams （FLDs） of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet were determined experimentally by conducting stretch-forming tests at room temperature, 100, 200 and 300 ℃ Compared with the as-received sheet, the lowest limited strain of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet with tilted texture in the FLD increased by 79% at room temperature and 104% at 100 ℃. The texture also affected the extension of the forming limit curves （FLC） in the FLD. However, the FLCs of two kinds of sheets almost overlapped at temperature above 200 ℃. It can be concluded that the reduction of （0002） texture intensity is effective to the improvement of formability not only at room temperature but also at low-and-medium temperature. The effect of texture on FLDs becomes weak with increasing temperature.

Theoretical prediction of forming limit diagram of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet at warm temperatures

A theoretical prediction on forming limit diagram（FLD） of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet was developed at warm temperatures based on the M-K theory. Two different yield criteria of von Mises and Hill＇48 were applied in this model. Mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy used in the prediction were obtained by uniaxial tensile tests and the Fields-Backofen equation was incorporated in the analysis. In addition, experimental FLDs of AZ31 were acquired by conducting rigid die swell test at different temperatures to verify the prediction. It is demonstrated from a comparison between the predicted and the experimental FLDs at 473 K and 523 K that the predicted results are influenced by the type of yield criterion used in the calculation, especially at lower temperatures. Furthermore, a better agreement between the predicted results and experimental data for AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet at warm temperatures was obtained when Hill＇48 yield criterion was applied.

Effect of flow stress—strain relation on forming limit of 5754O aluminum alloy

A modified Swift type flow stress—strain relation was presented in order to describe the uniaxial tension test curve reasonably. The FLD-strain （forming limit diagram made up of limit strain） of 5754O aluminum alloy sheet was calculated based on the two flow stress—strain relations using Yld2000-2d yield function. By comparing the theoretical and experimental results, it is found that the calculated FLD-strain based on the modified Swift flow stress—strain relation can reasonably describe the experimental results. However, though the common Voce flow stress—strain relation can describe the deformation behavior during homogenous deformation phase accurately, the FLD-strain calculated based on it is obviously lower than the experimental result. It is concluded that the higher the hardening rate of sheet metal is, the higher the forming limit is. A method for determining the reasonable flow stress—strain relation is recommended for describing the material behavior during inhomogenous phase and the forming limit of sheet metal.

Theoretical prediction and experimental investigation on formability of tailor-welded blanks

Based on the elastoplastic mechanical properties of the weld and heat affected zone metals obtained by a nanoindentation test, a theoretical calculation model was established for the forming limit diagram（FLD） of tailor-welded blanks（TWBs） on the basis of plastic constitutive relations and Hosford yield criteria. Hemispherical punch bulging tests were performed to verify the FLD theoretical calculation results. The results demonstrated that not only the FLD theoretical calculation of base materials but also that of TWBs had a good agreement with their experiments. Besides, poorer formability of TWBs caused its FLD significantly lower than that of base materials. The theoretical calculation model offers a reliable approach to obtain the specific FLD of TWBs.

Formability of AA5052/polyethylene/AA5052 sandwich sheets

The formability of AA5052/polyethylene/AA5052 sandwich sheets was experimentally studied. Three kinds of AA5052/polyethylene/AA5052 sandwich specimens with different thicknesses of core materials were prepared by the hot pressing adhesive method. Then, the uniaxial tensile tests were conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of AA5052/polyethylene/ AA5052 sandwich sheets, and the stretching tests were carried out to investigate the influences of polymer core thickness on the limit dome height of the sandwich sheet. The forming limit curves for three kinds of sandwich sheets were obtained. The experimental results show that the forming limit of the AA5052/polyethylene/AA5052 sandwich sheet is higher than that of the monolithic AA5052 sheet, and it increases with increasing the thickness of polyethylene core.

Hot Granules Medium Pressure Forming Process of AA7075 Conical Parts

High strength aluminum alloy plate has a low elongation at room temperature, which leads to the forming of its components need a high temperature. Liquid or gas is used as the pressure-transfer medium in the existing flexible mould forming process, the heat resistance of the medium and pressurizing device makes the application of aluminum alloy plate thermoforming restricted. To solve this problem, the existing medium is replaced by the heat-resisting solid granules and the general pressure equipments are applied. Based on the pressure-transfer performance test of the solid granules medium, the feasibility that the assumption of the extended Drucker-Prager linear model can be used in the finite element analysis is proved. The constitutive equation, the yield function and the theoretical forming limit diagram（FLD） of AA7075 sheet are established. Through the finite element numerical simulation of hot granules medium pressure forming（HGMF） process, not only the influence laws of the process parameters, such as forming temperature, the blank-holder gap and the diameter of the slab, on sheet metal forming performance are discussed, but also the broken area of the forming process is analyzed and predicted, which are coincided with the technological test. The conical part whose half cone angle is 15° and relative height H/d0 is 0.57, is formed in one process at 250℃. The HGMF process solves the problems of loading and seal in the existing flexible mould forming process and provides a novel technology for thermoforming of light alloy plate, such as magnesium alloy, aluminium alloy and titanium alloy.

Comparative study on forming limit prediction of AA7075-T6 sheet with M−K model and Lou−Huh criterion

In order to effectively predict the fracture of AA7075-T6 sheet, the forming limit curves of AA7075-T6 high-strength sheet were drawn according to Morciniak Kuczyski (M K) model and Lou Huh criterion, respectively. The errors between the predicted values of the two theoretical prediction models and experimental values were calculated by error analysis. The forming limit curves were verified by the punch stretch test to evaluate the prediction accuracy of M K model and Lou Huh criterion. The error analysis results show that the mean error of Lou Huh criterion with the optimal parameters for all tensile specimens is 25.04%, while the mean error of M K model for all tensile specimens is 74.24%. The prediction accuracy of Lou Huh criterion in predicting the fracture of AA7075-T6 sheet is higher. The punch stretch test results show that the forming limit curve drawn by Lou Huh criterion can effectively predict the fracture of AA7075-T6 sheet, but the prediction accuracy of M K model is relatively poor.

Cryogenic forming behaviour of AW-6016-T4 sheet

The objective of this work is to study the cryogenic sheet metal forming behaviour of precipitation hardening AW-6016-T4.In this regard,the flow curves and forming limit curves were obtained by tension and Nakazima experimental testing methods in thetemperature ranges from-196to25°C.It was found that strength and elongation increase with decreasing temperature.Small butperceived differences between microstructure of the material deformed at the room and cryogenic temperatures respectively wereidentified by electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD)analysis.However,no significant difference in the precipitation kinetics duringcontinuous heating in the DSC has been observed.This study has demonstrated the potential of cryogenic forming by manufacturinga B-pillar part with8mm depth of side design element as compared to6mm at room temperature.

Effect of Plastic Anisotropy on the Formability of Aluminum 6016-T4 Sheet Material

Sheet metal formed of lightweight materials such as aluminum sheeting has received great attention related to the reduction of vehicle emissions. This paper evaluates the anisotropic yield locus using Kuwabara＇s biaxial tensile tester and stretches formability using Hecker＇s hemispheri- cal punch stretching test for aluminum 6016-T4 sheet material. The anisotropic yield locus of the A16016-T4 sheet measured is fitted well by the modified Drucker yield func- tion. Moreover the best fitting to the experimental stress- strain curve from the tensile test was obtained by taking an appropriate hardening model. Analytical study to predict the stretch formability by using Hora＇s Modified Maximum Force Criterion （MMFC） was performed. The predicted forming limit curves （FLC） based on various yield functions were compared with the experiments and discussed.

A New Curve Fitting Method for Forming Limit Experimental Data

The forming limit curve （FLC） can be obtained by means of curve fitting the limit strain points of different strain paths. The theory of percent regression analysis is applied to the curve fitting of forming limit experimental data.Forecast intervals of FLC percentiles can be calculated. Thus reliability and confidence level can be considered. The theoretical method to get the limits of limit strain points distributing region is presented, and the FLC position can be adjusted according to practical requirement. Method for establishing FLC with high reliability using small samples is presented at the same time. This method can make full use of the current experimental data and the previous data.Compared with the traditional method that can only use current experimental data, fewer specimens are required in the present method to obtain the same precision and the result is more accurate with the same number of specimens.

Effect of strain rate difference between inside and outside groove in M-K model on prediction of forming limit curve of Ti6Al4V at elevated temperatures

The influence of initial groove angle on strain rate inside and outside groove of Ti6Al4V alloy was investigated.Based on the evolution of strain rate inside and outside groove,the effect of strain rate difference on the evolution of normal stress and effective stress inside and outside groove was also analyzed.The results show that when linear loading path changes from uniaxial tension to equi-biaxial tension,the initial groove angle plays a weaker role in the evolution of strain rate in the M-K model.Due to the constraint of force equilibrium between inside and outside groove,the strain rate difference makes the normal stress inside groove firstly decrease and then increase during calculation,which makes the prediction algorithm of forming limit convergent at elevated temperature.The decrease of normal stress inside groove is mainly caused by high temperature softening effect and the rotation of groove,while the increase of normal stress inside groove is mainly due to strain rate hardening effect.

Effects of Biaxial Tensile on the Deformation Behavior of DP590 High-strength Steel Sheet under High Strain Rate

The effects of biaxial tensile pre-strain on the forming limit of DP590 high-strength steel under high strain rate were investigated. The stress-strain curves of DP590 steel sheet under the biaxial tensile of different load ratios were obtained. The forming limit diagrams（FLDs） of DP590 steel sheet under biaxial tensile pre-strain and electromagnetic hybrid forming were established. Results showed that the biaxial tensile pre-strain had significant effects on the formability of DP590 steel. The pre-strain in a certain range improved the forming limit of DP590 steel under high rate, and the forming limit increased with the pre-strain. The prestrain in the same direction of high rate increased the forming limit of the final deformation under complex strain paths conditions, but the pre-strain in the vertical direction decreased the minor strain under the high strain rate.

Formability improvement and blank shape definition for deep drawing of cylindrical cup with complex curve profile from SPCC sheets using FEM

In the current work, to predict and improve the formability of deep drawing process for steel plate cold rolled commercial grade （SPCC） sheets, three parameters including the blanking force, the die and punch comer radius were considered. The experimental plan according to Taguchi＇s orthogonal array was coupled with the finite element method （FEM） simulations. Firstly, the data from the test of stress-strain and forming limit curves were used as input into ABAQUS/Explicit finite element code to predict the failure occurrence of deep drawing process. The three parameters were then validated to establish their effects on the press formability. The optimum case found via simulation was finally confirmed through an experiment. In order to obtain the complex curve profile of cup shape after deep drawing, the anisotropic behavior of earring phenomenon was modeled and implemented into FEM. After such phenomenon was correctly predicted, an error metric compared with design curve was then measured.

Stress based forming limit diagram for formability characterization of 6061 aluminum

Two numerical criteria of forming limit diagram（FLD） criterion and ductile fracture criterion（DFC） are presented for FLD prediction of 6061 aluminum. The numerical results are compared with the experimental FLD and also punch＇s load-displacement curve of experimental samples. Experimental FLD of this study is calculated using hemispherical punch test of Hecker. Experimental FLD is converted to FLSD and imported to the Abaqus software to predict necking of samples. Numerical results for FLSD prediction were compared with experimental FLSD. Results show that ductile fracture criterion has higher accuracy for FLD and FLSD prediction of 6061 aluminum. Comparison of numerical and experimental results for force-displacement curve of punch shows that numerical results have a good agreement with experiment.

Prediction of fracture limits of Ni-Cr based alloy under warm forming condition using ductile damage models and numerical method

The stretch forming and the deep-drawing processes were carried out at 300 and 673 K to determine the safe forming and fracture limits of IN625 alloy.The experimentally obtained strain-based fracture forming limit diagram(FFLD)was transformed into a stress-based(σ-FFLD)and effective plastic strain(EPS)vs triaxiality(η)plot to remove the excess dependency of fracture limits over the strains.For the prediction of fracture limits,seven different damage models were calibrated.The Oh model displayed the best ability to predict the fracture locus with the least absolute error.Though the experimentally obtained fracture limits have only been used for the numerical analysis,none of the considered damage models predicted the fracture strains over the entire considered range of stress triaxiality(0.33<η<0.66).The deep drawing process window helped to determine wrinkling,safe and fracture zones while drawing the cylindrical cups under different temperature and lubricating conditions.Further,the highest drawing ratio of 2 was achieved at 673 K under the lubricating condition.All the numerically predicted results of both stretch forming and deep drawing processes using the Hill 1948 anisotropic yielding function were found to be good within the acceptable range of error.

Influence of material models on theoretical forming limit diagram prediction for Ti-6Al-4V alloy under warm condition

Forming limit diagram (FLD) is an important performance index to describe the maximum limit of principal strains that can be sustained by sheet metals till to the onset of localized necking. It offers a convenient and useful tool to predict the forming limit in the sheet metal forming processes. In the present study, FLD has been determined experimentally for Ti?6Al?4V alloy at 400 °C by conducting a Nakazima test with specimens of different widths. Additionally, for theoretical FLD prediction, various anisotropic yield criteria (Barlat 1989, Barlat 1996, Hill 1993) and different hardening models viz., Hollomon power law (HPL), Johnson?Cook (JC), modified Zerilli–Armstrong (m-ZA), modified Arrhenius (m-Arr) models have been developed. Theoretical FLDs have been determined using Marciniak and Kuczynski (M?K) theory incorporating the developed yield criteria and constitutive models. It has been observed that the effect of yield model is more pronounced than the effect of constitutive model for theoretical FLDs prediction. However, the value of thickness imperfection factor (f0) is solely dependent on hardening model. Hill (1993) yield criterion is best suited for FLD prediction in the right hand side region. Moreover, Barlat (1989) yield criterion is best suited for FLD prediction in left hand side region. Therefore, the proposed hybrid FLD in combination with Barlat (1989) and Hill (1993) yield models with m-Arr hardening model is in the best agreement with experimental FLD.

Effects of annealing treatments on forming performance of zirconium alloys

The effects of annealing treatments(ATs)on the microstructure of Zr-Sn-Nb alloy strips were studied.Based on the characteristics of strips for nuclear fuel assemblies,punching experiments were carried out and the formability of zirconium alloy strips was quantitatively evaluated.The results indicate that the proportions of small-angle grain boundaries of the zirconium alloy under conditions of annealing treatment at 580°C(ATⅠ)and annealing treatment at 620°C(ATⅡ)are 14.3%and 23.2%,respectively,while that of the as-received material is 12.4%.And the forming limit margin fields of the zirconium alloy under ATⅠcan reach 0.43%,while the values of the as-received material and the ATⅡare-0.35%and-2.8%,respectively.The annealing process affects the evolution process of the strip recrystallization texture and the grain size.Moreover,the total texture and pole density are closely related to the degree of anisotropy of the strip.Besides,the small-angle grain boundary affects the strain path and crack expansion of the necking unit during the strip punching process,while the grain size affects the hardening exponent of the material.

The Formablity of AZ31B Magnesium Alloy Sheet

The forming limit diagrams （ FLD ） of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet were tested by means of the electro etching grid method based on the forming experiment of magnesium alloy sheet carried out with a BCS- 30D sheet forming testing machine and the strain testing analysis made with an advanced ASAME automatic strain measuring system. Experiments show that, at room temperature, the mechanical properties and deep drawing peorformance of AZ31B cold-rolled magnesium alloy sheet were so poor that it failed to test the forming limit diagrams without an ideal forming and processing capacity, while the hot-rolled magnesium alloy sheet was of a little better plasticity and forming peorformance after testing its forming limit diagrams. It can be concluded that the testing of the forming limit curves （ FLC ） offers the theoretical foundation for the drawing of the deep drawing and forming process of magnesium alloy sheet.

Research on technological parameters of pressure forming with hot granule medium on AA7075 sheet

Hot granule medium pressure forming （HGMF） process is a new process in which granule medium replaces the medium in existing flexible-die hot forming process, such as liquids, gases or viscous medium. Hot forming of light alloy sheet parts can be realized based on the properties of granule medium, such as withstanding high temperature and pressure, filling well, sealing and loading easily. In this work, the forming of AA7075 cylindrical parts by HGMF process is taken as an example to establish the constitutive relation and forming limit diagram （FLD） of AA7075 sheet which is related to temperature by hot uniaxial tensile test of sheet metal. Based on the assumption that granule medium is applied to extended Drucker-Prager linear material model, the finite element model of HGMF process is established and the effect of technological parameters, such as forming temperature, blank-holder gap and drawing ratio, on the sheet metal formability, is studied. The limit drawing ratio curve of AA7075 cylindrical parts at forming temperature of 175-300 ℃ is obtained by HGMF process test, and the limit drawing ratio reaches the maximum value of 1.71 at 250 ℃. The results of numerical simulation are consistent with the results of process test, and the forming force, distribution of wall thichness and form of instability are predicted correctly, which provides reference for the application of HGMF process.