Kyoo Sil Choi

Determining Individual Phase Flow Properties in a Quench and Partitioning Steel with In Situ High-Energy X-Ray Diffraction and Multiphase Elasto-Plastic Self-Consistent Method

The micromechanical properties of the constituent phases were characterized for advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) produced by a quenching and partitioning (Q&P) process with in situ tensile loading under synchrotron-based, high-energy X-ray diffraction. The constituent phases present are retained austenite and three martensites (tempered, untampered, and freshly formed martensites). For the material investigated, the 200 and 220 lattice strains of the retained austenite phase were calculated by examining the changes of the X-ray diffraction peak positions during deformation. The 200 and 211 lattice strains of the various martensitic phases with similar crystal structures were determined by separating their overlapped diffraction peaks. Apart from tempered and untempered martensite, the diffraction peaks of freshly formed martensite as a result of austenite-to-martensite transformation can also be separated due to a high initial austenite volume fraction. The phase stresses are first estimated with an empirical relationship through the X-ray diffraction elastic constants. A multiphase elasto-plastic self-consistent model is next used for more accurate determination of the constitutive behaviors of the various phases by comparing the predicted lattice strain distributions and global stress–strain curves with the measured ones. The determined constitutive laws will be used for microstructure-based modeling for sheet formability of the Q&P AHSS steel.

Edge Fracture Prediction of Traditional and Advanced Trimming Processes for AA6111-T4 Sheets

This work examines the traditional and advanced trimming of AA6111-T4 aluminum sheets with finite element simulations. The Rice-Tracy damage model is used for the simulation with damage parameters estimated from experimental observation of grain aspect ratio near the fracture surface of trimmed parts. Fine meshes at the shearing zone, adaptive meshing, and adaptive contact techniques are used to accurately capture the contact interactions between the sharp corner of the trimming tools and the blank to be trimmed. To the knowledge of the authors, these are the first trimming simulations that can predict the effects of shearing clearance on burr heights with quantitative accuracy for AA6111-T4 aluminum sheets. In addition, the models have also accurately reproduced the crack initiation site as well as burr and sliver formation mechanisms observed experimentally.

Effects of Pore Distributions on Ductility of Thin-Walled High Pressure Die-Cast Magnesium

In this paper, a microstructure-based three-dimensional (3D) finite element modeling method is adopted to investigate the effects of porosity in thin-walled high pressure die-cast (HPDC) Magnesium alloys on their ductility. For this purpose, the cross-sections of AM60 casting samples are first examined using optical microscope and X-ray tomography to obtain the general information on the pore distribution features. The experimentally observed pore distribution features are then used to generate a series of synthetic microstructure-based 3D finite element models with different pore volume fractions and pore distribution features. Shear and ductile damage models are adopted in the finite element analyses to induce the fracture by element removal, leading to the prediction of ductility. The results in this study show that the ductility monotonically decreases as the pore volume fraction increases and that the effect of ‘skin region’ on the ductility is noticeable under the condition of same local pore volume fraction in the center region of the sample and its existence can be beneficial for the improvement of ductility. The further synthetic microstructure-based 3D finite element analyses are planned to investigate the effects of pore size and pore size distribution.

Predicting grid-size-dependent fracture strains of DP980 with a microstructure-based post-necking model

Ductile fracture is a local phenomenon, and it is well established that fracture strain levels depend on both stress triaxiality and the resolution (grid size) of strain measurements. Two-dimensional plane strain post-necking models with different model sizes are used to predict the grid-size-dependent fracture strain of a commercial dual-phase steel, DP980. The models are generated from the actual microstructures, and the individual phase flow properties and literature-based individual phase damage parameters for the Johnson–Cook model are used for ferrite and martensite. A monotonic relationship is predicted: the smaller the model size, the higher the fracture strain. Thus, a general framework is developed to quantify the grid-size-dependent fracture strains for multiphase materials. In addition to the grid-size dependency, the influences of intrinsic microstructure features, i.e., the flow curve and fracture strains of the two constituent phases, on the predicted fracture strains also are examined. Application of the derived fracture strain versus model size relationship is demonstrated with large clearance trimming simulations with different element sizes.

Applicability of Micromechanics Model Based on Actual Microstructure for Failure Prediction of DP Steels

In this paper, various micromechanics models based on actual microstructures of DP steels are examined in order to determine the reasonable range of martensite volume fraction where the methodology described in this study can be applied. For this purpose, various micromechanics-based finite element models are first created based on the actual microstructures of DP steels with different martensite volume fractions. These models are, then, used to investigate the influence of ductility of the constituent ferrite and martensite phases and also the influence of voids in the ferrite phase on the overall ductility of DP steels. The computational results indicate that there is a range of martensite volume fraction where the phase inhomogeneity between the ferrite and martensite phases has dominant effect on the overall ductility of DP steels, defeating the influence of the ductility of each phase and the voids in the ferrite phase, and that this phase inhomogeneity dominant region includes the range of marteniste volume fraction between 15% and 40%. Therefore, the methodology, adopted in this study, may be applied to DP steels within the phase inhomogeneity dominant region in tailoring the DP steel design for its intended purpose and desired properties.

Microstucture Modeling to Ductility Prediction of Mg Alloys

Magnesium alloys have become popular alternatives to aluminums and steels for the purpose of vehicle light weighting. However, Mg alloys are hindered from wider application due to limited ductility. Understanding the impact of microstructural features on bulk response is key to more widespread use and moving towards truly predicting capabilities. Cast Mg alloys contain intrinsic (grain size, secondary phases, morphology) and extrinsic (porosity) micro structural features. Both types of features contribute to the bulk properties and in-service failure mechanisms. This study models the intrinsic features using synthetic microstructure models that incorporate material properties from first-principle calculations. We will show that the morphology, not just the volume fraction, of the secondary phase, explains the hardening differences between different AM-series alloys. The resulting “bulk” properties from the intrinsic models are also utilized by extrinsic microstructure models to predict the ductility of Mg alloys.

Hole Expansion Of Dual Phase Steels

In this work, the stretch-flangeability of dual phase (DP) steels was investigated through the hole expansion (HE) tests for three DP980 steel sheet samples. In order to understand the effect of hole surface quality on the HE results, the specimens were prepared with three hole machining methods, namely, electrical discharge machining (EDM), punching and laser cutting. The HE results were discussed in terms of the hole surface quality before and after testing. Moreover, the failure behaviour was analyzed based on the observations of the fracture surfaces using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Effects of Forming Induced Phase Transformation on Crushing Behavior of TRIP Steel

In this paper, results of finite element crash simulation are presented for a TRIP steel side rail with and without considering the phase transformation during forming operations. A homogeneous phase transformation model is adapted to model the mechanical behavior of the austenite-to-martensite phase. The forming process of TRIP steels is simulated with the implementation of the material model. The distribution and volume fraction of the martensite in TRIP steels may be greatly influenced by various factors during forming process and subsequently contribute to the behavior of the formed TRIP steels during the crushing process. The results indicate that, with the forming induced phase transformation, higher energy absorption of the side rail can be achieved. The phase transformation enhances the strength of the side rail

Predicting Ductility and Failure Modes of TRIP Steels under Different Loading Conditions

We study the ultimate ductility and failure modes of a TRIP (TRansformation-Induced Plasticity) 800 steel under different loading conditions with an advanced micromechanics-based finite element analysis. The representative volume element (RVE) for the TRIP800 under examination is developed based on an actual microstructure obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The evolution of retained austenite during deformation process and the mechanical properties of the constituent phases of the TRIP800 steel are obtained from the synchrotron-based in-situ high-energy X-ray diffraction (HEXRD) experiments and a self-consistent (SC) model. The ductile failure of the TRIP800 under different loading conditions is predicted in the form of plastic strain localization without any prescribed failure criteria for the individual phases. Comparisons of the computational results with experimental measurements suggest that the microstructure-based finite element analysis can well capture the overall macroscopic behavior of the TRIP800 steel under different loading conditions. The methodology described in this study may be extended for studying the ultimate ductile failure mechanisms of TRIP steels as well as the effects of the various processing parameters on the macroscopic behaviors of TRIP steels.

Characterization of the Fracture Toughness of TRIP 800 Sheet Steels Using Microstructure-Based Finite Element Analysis

Recently, several studies conducted by automotive industry revealed the tremendous advantages of Advanced High Strength Steels (AHSS). TRansformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel is one of the typical representative of AHSS. This kind of materials exhibits high strength as well as high formability. Analyzing the crack behaviour in TRIP steels is a challenging task due to the microstructure level inhomogeneities between the different phases (Ferrite, Bainite, Austenite, Martensite) that constitute these materials. This paper aims at investigating the fracture resistance of TRIP steels. For this purpose, a micromechanical finite element model is developed based on the actual microstructure of a TRIP 800 steel. Uniaxial tensile tests on TRIP 800 sheet notched specimens were also conducted and tensile properties and R-curves (Resistance curves) were determined. The comparison between simulation and experimental results leads us to the conclusion that the method using microstructure-based representative volume element (RVE) captures well enough the complex behavior of TRIP steels. The effect of phase transformation, which occurs during the deformation process, on the toughness is observed and discussed.