Till Clausmeyer

Experimental characterization of microstructure development during loading path changes in bcc sheet steels

Interstitial free sheet steels show transient work hardening behavior, i.e., the Bauschinger effect and cross hardening, after changes in the loading path. This behavior affects sheet forming processes and the properties of the final part. The transient work hardening behavior is attributed to changes in the dislocation structure. In this work, the morphology of the dislocation microstructure is investigated for uniaxial and plane strain tension, monotonic and forward to reverse shear, and plane strain tension to shear. Characteristic features such as the thickness of cell walls and the shape of cells are used to distinguish microstructural patterns corresponding to different loading paths. The influence of the crystallographic texture on the dislocation structure is analyzed. Digital image processing is used to create a “library” of schematic representations of the dislocation microstructure. The dislocation microstructures corresponding to uniaxial tension, plane strain tension, monotonic shear, forward to reverse shear, and plane strain tension to shear can be distinguished from each other based on the thickness of cell walls and the shape of cells. A statistical analysis of the wall thickness distribution shows that the wall thickness decreases with increasing deformation and that there are differences between simple shear and uniaxial tension. A change in loading path leads to changes in the dislocation structure. The knowledge of the specific features of the dislocation structure corresponding to a loading path may be used for two purposes: (i) the analysis of the homogeneity of deformation in a test sample and (ii) the analysis of a formed part.

Enhancement of Lemaitre Model to Predict Cracks at Low and Negative Triaxialities in Sheet Metal Forming

Advanced high strength steels are still one of the best alternatives for light weight design in the automotive industry. Due to their good performances like high strength and high energy absorption, those steel grades are excellent for body in white components. Because of their restricted ductility, which sometimes leads to the formation of cracks without or low necking during forming operations, conventional forming limit diagrams may fall short. As a remedy, an enhanced variant of the Lemaitre continuum mechanical damage model (CDM) is presented in this work.Previous model extensions of the Lemaitre model improved the damage prediction for the shear and compression dominated stress states by introducing an additional weighting factor for the influence of compression on damage evolution, the so called crack closure parameter h. However, the possible range of the fracture behavior predicted by such models for low and negative stress triaxialities is limited. In this work, the Lemaitre CDM has been enhanced by considering the maximal shear stress to predict the fracture occurrence under shear. Previous models for the effect of void closure on damage evolution are reviewed and a novel model enhancement taking into account the maximal shear stresses is described. The determination of the damage model parameters is presented for a dual phase steel. For this particular material, the response of model enhancement on the failure prediction is discussed for a test part.

Investigations of ductile damage during the process chains of toothed functional components manufactured by sheet-bulk metal forming

Sheet-bulk metal forming processes combine conventional sheet forming processes with bulk forming of sheet semi-finished parts. In these processes the sheets undergo complex forming histories. Due to in- and out-of-plane material flow and large accumulated plastic strains, the conventional failure prediction methods for sheet metal forming such as forming limit curve fall short. As a remedy, damage models can be applied to model damage evolution during those processes. In this study, damage evolution during the production of two different toothed components from DC04 steel is investigated. In both setups, a deep drawn cup is upset to form a circumferential gearing. However, the two final products have different dimensions and forming histories. Due to combined deep drawing and upsetting processes, the material flow on the cup walls is three-dimensional and non-proportional. In this study, the numerical and experimental investigations for those parts are presented and compared. Damage evolution in the process chains is simulated with a Lemaitre damage criterion. Microstructural analysis by scanning electron microscopy is performed in the regions with high mechanical loading. It is observed that the evolution of voids in terms of void volume fraction is strongly dependent on the deformation path. The comparison of simulation results with microstructural data shows that the void volume fraction decreases in the upsetting stage after an initial increase in the drawing stage. Moreover, the concurrent numerical and microstructural analysis provides evidence that the void volume fraction decreases during compression in sheet-bulk metal forming.

Damage characterization of high-strength multiphase steels

High-strength steels show an entirely different material behavior than conventional deep-drawing steels. This fact is caused among others by the multiphase nature of their structure. The Forming Limit Diagram as the classic failure criterion in forming simulation is only partially suitable for this class of steels. An improvement of the failure prediction can be obtained by using damage mechanics. Therefore, an exact knowledge of the material-specific damage is essential for the application of various damage models. In this paper the results of microstructure analysis of a dual-phase steel and a complex-phase steel with a tensile strength of 1000 MPa are shown comparatively at various stress conditions. The objective is to characterize the basic damage mechanisms and based on this to assess the crack sensitivity of both steels. First a structural analysis with regard to non-metallic inclusions, the microstructural morphology, phase identification and the difference in microhardness between the structural phases is carried out. Subsequently, the development of the microstructure at different stress states between uniaxial and biaxial tension is examined. The damage behavior is characterized and quantified by the increase in void density, void size and the quantity of voids. The dominant damage mechanism of the dual-phase steel is the void initiation at phase boundaries, within harder structural phases and at inclusions. In contrast the complex-phase steel shows a significant growth of a smaller amount of voids which initiate only at inclusions. To quantify the damage tolerance and the susceptibility of cracking the criterion of the fracture forming limit line (FFL) is used. The respective statements are supported by results of investigations regarding the edge-crack sensitivity.

Damage Mechanisms and Mechanical Properties of High-Strength Multiphase Steels

The usage of high-strength steels for structural components and reinforcement parts is inevitable for modern car-body manufacture in reaching lightweight design as well as increasing passive safety. Depending on their microstructure these steels show differing damage mechanisms and various mechanical properties which cannot be classified comprehensively via classical uniaxial tensile testing. In this research, damage initiation, evolution and final material failure are characterized for commercially produced complex-phase (CP) and dual-phase (DP) steels in a strength range between 600 and 1000 MPa. Based on these investigations CP steels with their homogeneous microstructure are characterized as damage tolerant and hence less edge-crack sensitive than DP steels. As final fracture occurs after a combination of ductile damage evolution and local shear band localization in ferrite grains at a characteristic thickness strain, this strain measure is introduced as a new parameter for local formability. In terms of global formability DP steels display advantages because of their microstructural composition of soft ferrite matrix including hard martensite particles. Combining true uniform elongation as a measure for global formability with the true thickness strain at fracture for local formability the mechanical material response can be assessed on basis of uniaxial tensile testing incorporating all microstructural characteristics on a macroscopic scale. Based on these findings a new classification scheme for the recently developed high-strength multiphase steels with significantly better formability resulting of complex underlying microstructures is introduced. The scheme overcomes the steel designations using microstructural concepts, which provide no information about design and production properties.

Analysis of Dislocation Structures in Ferritic and Dual Phase Steels Regarding Continuous and Discontinuous Loading Paths

In sheet-bulk metal forming processes the hardening behavior of the material depends on the sequence of deformation steps and the type of deformation. Loading path changes induce transient hardening phenomena. These phenomena are linked to the formation and interaction of oriented dislocation structures. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of continuous and discontinuous loading path changes on the dislocation microstructure in ferritic and ferritic-martensitic dual-phase steel, respectively. For the experiments a biaxial test stand was used, which permits to continuously change the load from tension to shear. In the ferrite single-phase steel transmission-electron microscopy reveals a reduced evolution of oriented dislocation structures for continuous loading path changes compared to discontinuous loading path changes. This evolution is further decreased in dual-phase steel compared to the ferritic steel. Microstructural results for the ferritic steel are accompanied by simulation results with a transient hardening model.

Influence of Different Yield Loci on Failure Prediction with Damage Models

Advanced high strength steels are widely used in the automotive industry to simultaneously improve crash performance and reduce the car body weight. A drawback of these multiphase steels is their sensitivity to damage effects and thus the reduction of ductility. For that reason the Forming Limit Curve is only partially suitable for this class of steels. An improvement in failure prediction can be obtained by using damage mechanics. The objective of this paper is to comparatively review the phenomenological damage model GISSMO and the Enhanced Lemaitre Damage Model. GISSMO is combined with three different yield loci, namely von Mises, Hill48 and Barlat2000 to investigate the influence of the choice of the plasticity description on damage modelling. The Enhanced Lemaitre Model is used with Hill48. An inverse parameter identification strategy for a DP1000 based on stress-strain curves and optical strain measurements of shear, uniaxial, notch and (equi-)biaxial tension tests is applied to calibrate the models. A strong dependency of fracture strains on the choice of yield locus can be observed. The identified models are validated on a cross-die cup showing ductile fracture with slight necking.

Experimental analysis of anisotropic damage in dual-phase steel by resonance measurement

The ductile damage in deformed dual-phase steel sheets (DP600) was investigated based on measurements of the degradation of the direction-dependent Young’s modulus. The study focuses on the material-induced damage anisotropy in such advanced high-strength steel. The elastic properties in the direction of applied loading of the deformed sheets were determined by measuring the resonance frequency of rectangular samples. The material was investigated in the as-delivered condition and after annealing at 220℃ for 48 h. Tensile strains of up to 10% were applied after annealing. Tensile tests were performed in different directions with respect to the rolling direction to determine the evolution of damage in different directions. The comparison of the obtained results with the electron micrographs shows that the damage in the steel sheets occurs in the form of nano and micro damages near the grain boundary and interfaces of phases. The maximum decrease of the Young’s modulus in the transverse direction was observed for the largest applied deformation of 10% tensile strain in the transverse direction. An efficient calculation method to obtain information on the distribution of anisotropy in the plane of the sheet was applied. This calculation method relies on an efficient representation of the material’s texture. In order to assess the influence of texture, the texture was determined experimentally.

Modeling induced flow anisotropy and phase transformations in air hardening steels.

In this work a material model for hardening development in sheet metals during forming processes involving loading path changes is formulated. In particular, such hardening development is due to the formation and interaction of dislocation microstructures in the material, resulting in an evolution in the size, center and shape of the yield surface. Such yield surface evolution is accounted for in the current model with the help of an evolving structure tensor. The model is intended for an air hardening steel and takes therefore thermomechanics into account in particular phase transformations from ferrite to austenite and from austenite to martensite. As numerical examples a tension shear test and a heating-cooling sequence are simulated.

Modeling of anisotropy induced by evolution of dislocation microstructures on different scales

Many fcc and bcc metals subjected to non‐monotonic loading are known to exhibit different kinds of anisotropic hardening. This is due to evolution of (and interaction in) the dislocation microstructure depending on loading type. One purpose of the current work is the investigation of such evolution and interaction in single crystals as well as its effect on their hardening behavior. A single‐crystal model accounting for the effects of a change in loading path on the critical shear stress for glide at the glide‐system level is developed. On the basis of the crystal plasticity approach an efficient engineering scale model exploiting the insights gained on the lower scales is introduced and applied to simulations of forming processes.