Srihari Kurukuri

Rate sensitivity and tension-compression asymmetry in AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet.

The constitutive response of a commercial magnesium alloy rolled sheet (AZ31B-O) is studied based on room temperature tensile and compressive tests at strain rates ranging from 10−3 to 103u2009s−1. Because of its strong basal texture, this alloy exhibits a significant tension–compression asymmetry (strength differential) that is manifest further in terms of rather different strain rate sensitivity under tensile versus compressive loading. Under tensile loading, this alloy exhibits conventional positive strain rate sensitivity. Under compressive loading, the flow stress is initially rate insensitive until twinning is exhausted after which slip processes are activated, and conventional rate sensitivity is recovered. The material exhibits rather mild in-plane anisotropy in terms of strength, but strong transverse anisotropy (r-value), and a high degree of variation in the measured r-values along the different sheet orientations which is indicative of a higher degree of anisotropy than that observed based solely upon the variation in stresses. This rather complex behaviour is attributed to the strong basal texture, and the different deformation mechanisms being activated as the orientation and sign of applied loading are varied. A new constitutive equation is proposed to model the measured compressive behaviour that captures the rate sensitivity of the sigmoidal stress–strain response. The measured tensile stress–strain response is fit to the Zerilli–Armstrong hcp material model.

Constitutive Behavior of Commercial Grade ZEK100 Magnesium Alloy Sheet over a Wide Range of Strain Rates

The constitutive behavior of a rare-earth magnesium alloy ZEK100 rolled sheet is studied at room temperature over a wide range of strain rates. This alloy displays a weakened basal texture compared to conventional AZ31B sheet which leads to increased ductility; however, a strong orientation dependency persists. An interesting feature of the ZEK100 behavior is twinning at first yield under transverse direction (TD) tensile loading that is not seen in AZ31B. The subsequent work hardening behavior is shown to be stronger in the TD when compared to the rolling and 45xa0deg directions. One particularly striking feature of this alloy is a significant dependency of the strain rate sensitivity on orientation. The yield strength under compressive loading in all directions and under tensile loading in the TD direction is controlled by twinning and is rate insensitive. In contrast, the yield strength under rolling direction tensile loading is controlled by non-basal slip and is strongly rate sensitive. The cause of the in-plane anisotropy in terms of both strength and strain rate sensitivity is attributed to the initial crystallographic texture and operative deformation mechanisms as confirmed by measurements of deformed texture. Rate-sensitive constitutive fits are provided of the tensile stress–strain curves to the Zerilli–Armstrong[1] hcp material model and of the compressive response to a new constitutive equation due to Kurukuri et al.[2]

Springback of aluminum alloy brazing sheet in warm forming

The use of aluminum is increasing in the automotive industry due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, recyclability and corrosion resistance. However, aluminum is prone to significant springback due to its low elastic modulus coupled with its high strength. In this paper, a warm forming process is studied to improve the springback characteristics of 0.2u2005mm thick brazing sheet with an AA3003 core and AA4045 clad. Warm forming decreases springback by lowering the flow stress. The parts formed have complex features and geometries that are representative of automotive heat exchangers. The key objective is to utilize warm forming to control the springback to improve the part flatness which enables the use of harder temper material with improved strength. The experiments are performed by using heated dies at several different temperatures up to 350 °C and the blanks are pre-heated in the dies. The measured springback showed a reduction in curvature and improved flatness after forming at higher temperatures, particularly for the harder temper material conditions.The use of aluminum is increasing in the automotive industry due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, recyclability and corrosion resistance. However, aluminum is prone to significant springback due to its low elastic modulus coupled with its high strength. In this paper, a warm forming process is studied to improve the springback characteristics of 0.2u2005mm thick brazing sheet with an AA3003 core and AA4045 clad. Warm forming decreases springback by lowering the flow stress. The parts formed have complex features and geometries that are representative of automotive heat exchangers. The key objective is to utilize warm forming to control the springback to improve the part flatness which enables the use of harder temper material with improved strength. The experiments are performed by using heated dies at several different temperatures up to 350 °C and the blanks are pre-heated in the dies. The measured springback showed a reduction in curvature and improved flatness after forming at higher temperatures, pa...

Constitutive modelling of aluminium alloy sheet at warm forming temperatures

The formability of aluminium alloy sheet can be greatly improved by warm forming. However predicting constitutive behaviour under warm forming conditions is a challenge for aluminium alloys due to strong, coupled temperature- and rate-sensitivity. In this work, uniaxial tensile characterization of 0.5 mm thick fully annealed aluminium alloy brazing sheet, widely used in the fabrication of automotive heat exchanger components, is performed at various temperatures (25 to 250 °C) and strain rates (0.002 and 0.02 s-1). In order to capture the observed rate- and temperature-dependent work hardening behaviour, a phenomenological extended-Nadai model and the physically based (i) Bergstrom and (ii) Nes models are considered and compared. It is demonstrated that the Nes model is able to accurately describe the flow stress of AA3003 sheet at different temperatures, strain rates and instantaneous strain rate jumps.

Large Strain Behaviour of ZEK100 Magnesium Alloy at Various Strain Rates

A constitutive framework based on a rate-dependent crystal plasticity theory is employed to simulate large strain deformation in hexagonal closed-packed metals that deform by slip and twinning. The model allows the twinned zones and the parent matrix to rotate independently. ZEK100 magnesium alloy sheets which significant texture weakening compared to AZ31 sheets are investigated using the model. There is considerable in-plane anisotropy and tension compression asymmetry in the flow behavior of ZEK100. Simulations of uniaxial tension in different directions at various strain rates and the accompanying texture evolution are performed and they are in very good agreement with experimental measurements. The effect of strain rate on the activation of the various slip systems and twinning show that differences in the strain rate dependence of yield stress and Rvalues in ZEK100 have their origin in the activation of different deformation mechanisms.

Material Properties for Numerical Calculations

This article examines the accuracy of numerical simulations of metal forming processes and focuses on the interplay between material characterization and constitutive modeling on the accuracy of the numerical model. It also examines the response of light metals (aluminum and magnesium alloy sheets) to forming at elevated temperatures. Aluminum alloys exhibit strong rate sensitivity at temperatures in the warm forming regime (100–300xa0°C), and proper constitutive characterization and numerical representation of rate sensitivity is shown to be important in deep drawing simulations. Magnesium alloys are strongly rate sensitive at both room and elevated temperatures. Anisotropy is shown to be important in modeling aluminum and magnesium alloys, and advanced yield criteria with fits to directional variation in both strength and r-value is necessary. Magnesium alloys also exhibit strong tension-compression asymmetry due to twinning under compression, mandating compressive characterization of sheet alloys, which can be difficult. Magnesium alloys also display significant yield surface evolution, which should be captured using advanced constitutive models. In contrast, the assumption of a constant yield surface shape is acceptable for many commercial aluminum sheet alloys.

Modeling of Strength Differential Effects in HCP Sheet Materials

A simple approach is proposed to employ symmetric yield functions for modeling the tension-compression asymmetry commonly observed in hcp materials. In this work, the strength differential (SD) effect is modeled by choosing separate symmetric plane stress Barlat Yld 2000 yield functions for the tension i.e., in the first quadrant of principal stress space, and compression i.e., third quadrant of principal stress space. In the second and fourth quadrants, the yield locus is constructed by adopting Bezier interpolating functions between uniaxial tensile and compressive stress states. The main advantage of this proposed approach is that the yield locus parameters are deterministic and relatively easy to identify when compared to the Cazacu-Plunkett-Barlat (CPB) family of yield functions commonly used for modeling the SD effect observed in hcp materials. The proposed yield function is implemented as a user material subroutine (UMAT) within the commercial finite element software, LS-DYNA. The predictions of the developed material model are compared with the measured load-displacement and strain distributions from a three-point bend experiment on AZ31B sheet.Copyright

An Alternative Approach for Modeling Strength Differential Effect in Sheet Metals with Symmetric Yield Functions

An alternative approach is proposed to utilize symmetric yield functions for modeling the tension-compression asymmetry commonly observed in hcp materials. In this work, the strength differential (SD) effect is modeled by choosing separate symmetric plane stress yield functions (for example, Barlat Yld 2000-2d) for the tension i.e., in the first quadrant of principal stress space, and compression i.e., third quadrant of principal stress space. In the second and fourth quadrants, the yield locus is constructed by adopting interpolating functions between uniaxial tensile and compressive stress states. In this work, different interpolating functions are chosen and the predictive capability of each approach is discussed. The main advantage of this proposed approach is that the yield locus parameters are deterministic and relatively easy to identify when compared to the Cazacu family of yield functions commonly used for modeling SD effect observed in hcp materials.