A combined necking and shear localization analysis for aluminum sheets under biaxial stretching conditions

A combined necking and shear localization analysis is adopted to model the failures of two aluminum sheets, AA5754 and AA6111, under biaxial stretching conditions. The approach is based on the assumption that the reduction of thickness or the necking mode is modeled by a plane stress formulation and the final failure mode of shear localization is modeled by a generalized plane strain formulation. The sheet material is modeled by an elastic-viscoplastic constitutive relation that accounts for the potential surface curvature, material plastic anisotropy, material rate sensitivity, and the softening due to the nucleation, growth, and coalescence of microvoids. Specifically, the necking/shear failure of the aluminum sheets is modeled under uniaxial tension, plane strain tension and equal biaxial tension. The results based on the mechanics model presented in this paper are in agreement with those based on the forming limit diagrams (FLDs) and tensile tests. When the necking mode is suppressed, the failure strains are also determined under plane strain conditions. These failure strains can be used as guidances for estimation of the surface failure strains on the stretching sides of the aluminum sheets under plane strain bending conditions. The estimated surface failure strains are higher than the failure strains of the forming limit diagrams under plane strain stretching conditions. The results are consistent with experimental observations where the surface failure strains of the aluminum sheets increase significantly on the stretching sides of the sheets under bending conditions. The results also indicate that when a considerable amount of necking is observed for a sheet metal under stretching conditions, the surface failure strains on the stretching sides of the sheet metal under bending conditions can be significantly higher.     

An energy-based anisotropic yield criterion for cellular solids and validation by biaxial FE simulations

The initial yield surface of 2D lattice materials is investigated under biaxial loading using finite element analyses as well as by analytical means. The sensitivity of initial yield surface to the dominant deformation mode is explored by using both low- and high-connectivity topologies whose dominant deformation mode is either local bending or strut stretching, respectively. The effect of microstructural irregularity on the initial yield surface is also examined for both topologies. A pressure-dependent anisotropic yield criterion, which is based on total elastic strain energy density, is proposed for 2D lattice structures, which can be easily extended for application to 3D cellular solids. Proposed criterion uses elastic constants and yield strengths under uniaxial loading, and does not rely on any arbitrary parameter. The analytical framework developed allows the introduction of new scalar measures of characteristic stresses and strains that are capable of representing the elastic response of anisotropic materials with a single elastic master line under multiaxial loading.     

Effects of spatial grain orientation distribution and initial surface topography on sheet metal necking

The finite element method is used to numerically simulate localized necking in AA6111-T4 under stretching. The measured EBSD data (grain orientations and their spatial distributions) are directly incorporated into the finite element model and the constitutive response at an integration point is described by the single crystal plasticity theory. We assume that localized necking is associated with surface instability, the onset of unstable growth in surface roughening. It is demonstrated that such a surface instability/necking is the natural outcome of the present approach, and the artificial initial imperfection necessitated by the macroscopic M–K approach [Marciniak and Kuczynski (1967). Int. J. Mech. Sci. 9, 609–620] is not relevant in the present analysis. The effects of spatial orientation distribution, material strain rate sensitivity, texture evolution, and initial surface topography on necking are discussed. It is found that localized necking depends strongly on both the initial texture and its spatial orientation distribution. It is also demonstrated that the initial surface topography has only a small influence on necking.     

A plasticity model for pressure-dependent anisotropic cellular solids

The initial and subsequent yield surfaces for an anisotropic and pressure-dependent 2D stochastic cellular material, which represents solid foams, are investigated under biaxial loading using finite element analysis. Scalar measures of stress and strain, namely characteristic stress and characteristic strain, are used to describe the constitutive response of cellular material along various stress paths. The coupling between loading path and strain hardening is then investigated in characteristic stress–strain domain. The nature of the flow rule that best describes the plastic flow of cellular solid is also investigated. An incremental plasticity framework is proposed to describe the pressure-dependent plastic flow of 2D stochastic cellular solids. The proposed plasticity framework adopts the anisotropic and pressure-dependent yield function recently introduced by Alkhader and Vural [Alkhader M., Vural M., 2009a. An energy-based anisotropic yield criterion for cellular solids and validation by biaxial FE simulations. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 57(5), 871–890]. It has been shown that the proposed yield function can be simply calibrated using elastic constants and flow stresses under uniaixal loading. Comparison of stress fields predicted by continuum plasticity model to the ones obtained from FE analysis shows good agreement for the range of loading paths and strains investigated.     

Flow localization in the plane strain tensile test

The deformations in a plane strain tensile test are analyzed numerically, both for a solid characterized by a phenomenological corner theory of plasticity and for a nonlinear elastic solid. As opposed to the simplest flow theory of plasticity with a smooth yield surface, both these material models exhibit shear band instabilities at a realistic level of strain. Initial imperfections are specified in the form of thickness inhomogeneities. A long-wavelength imperfection grows into the well-known necking mode and subsequently, at a sufficiently high local strain level, bands of intense shear deformations develop in the necking region. The location of these shear bands is strongly influenced by the location of small strain concentrations near the surface, induced by various short-wave patterns of initial thickness imperfections. In accord with the non-uniform straining in the neck it is found that the intensity of the localized deformations varies along the bands, and some of the shear bands end inside the material.     

Crystal plasticity based analysis of localized necking in aluminum tube under internal pressure

The finite element method is used to numerically simulate localized necking in aluminum alloy tube under internal pressure. The measured electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) data are directly incorporated into the finite element model and the constitutive response at an integration point is described by the single crystal plasticity theory. The tube is assumed sufficiently long, so that length changes as well as the end effects can be ignored and a plane strain analysis can be performed. Localized necking is assumed to be associated with surface instability, the onset of unstable thinning. It is demonstrated that such a surface instability/necking is the natural outcome of the present approach, and an artificial initial imperfection required by other approaches is not necessary in the present analysis. The effects of spatial grain orientation distribution, material strain rate sensitivity, work hardening, and initial surface topography on necking are discussed. It is found that localized necking depends strongly on both the initial texture and its spatial orientation distribution, while the initial surface topography has a negligible effect on necking.     

用损伤理论方法预测铝合金薄板成型极限

应用各向异性损伤理论研究2024-T3铝合金薄板的成形极限,通过构造有限元单胞模型预测薄板结构的极限应变.单胞模型由两相材料组成:铝合金基体和金属强化物.基体采用全耦合弹塑性-损伤本构方程描述,而金属强化物则视为弹脆性材料.采用所提出的缩颈准则,得到了双轴拉伸状态下铝合金薄板的极限应变,和实验结果比较两者吻合较好.研究结果揭示有限元单胞模型可以提供铝合金的细观损伤机理信息,当忽略材料的损伤影响,采用金属薄板成型理论的研究结果将过高估计薄板的极限应变.     

PREDICTION FOR FORMING LIMIT OF AL2024T3 SHEET BASED ON DAMAGE THEORY USING FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

This paper presents the application of anisotropic damage theory to the study of forming limit diagram of A12024T3 aluminum alloy sheet. In the prediction of limiting strains of the aluminum sheet structure, a finite element cell model has been constructed. The cell model consists of two phases, the aluminum alloy matrix and the intermetallic cluster. The material behavior of the aluminum alloy matrix is described with a fully coupled elasto-plastic damage constitutive equation. The intermetallic cluster is assumed to be elastic and brittle. By varying the stretching ratio, the limiting strains of the sheet under biaxial stretching have been predicted by using the necking criterion proposed. The prediction is in good agreement with the experimental findings. Moreover, the finite element cell model can provide information for understanding the microscopic damage mechanism of the aluminum alloy. Over-estimation of the limit strains may result if the effect of material damage is ignored in the sheet metal forming study.     

Study of limit strains for FCC and BCC sheet metal using polycrystal plasticity

In this research, we analyze forming-limit strains of FCC and BCC materials using a viscoplastic self-consistent polycrystal model (VPSC) in conjunction with the Marciniak–Kuczynski (MK) approach. In particular, our work is focused on the theoretical analysis and comparison between FCC and BCC crystal structures made by Inal et al. [Inal, K., Neale, K.W., Aboutajeddine, A., 2005. Forming limit comparison for FCC and BCC sheets, International Journal of Plasticity, 21, 1255–1266]. These authors performed their simulations based on a generalized Taylor-type polycrystal model (MK-FC), finding a remarkably low forming-limit curve for the FCC material and an extremely high forming-limit curve for the BCC material, in the biaxial stretching range. We verified that our predictions are similar to Inal’s results for both FCC and BCC materials when the MK-FC model is used. However, MK-VPSC calculations do not give such extreme values, and we believe that this theory predicts much more reliable results for both FCC and BCC crystallographic assumptions. We also found that localized necking depends on texture evolution in the vicinity of equi-biaxial stretching, through the sharpness of the predicted yield surface. Finally, it is shown that the MK-VPSC’s predictions are in good agreement with experimental data for AA5182-O and a DQ-type steel-sheet metal.     

On neck propagation in amorphous glassy polymers under plane strain tension

Unlike metals, necking in polymers under tension does not lead to further localization of deformation, but to propagation of the neck along the specimen. Finite element analysis is used to numerically study necking and neck propagation in amorphous glassy polymers under plane strain tension during large strain plastic flow. The constitutive model used in the analyses features strain-rate, pressure, and temperature dependent yield, softening immediately after yield and subsequent orientational hardening with further plastic deformation. The latter is associated with distortion of the underlying molecular network structure of the material, and is modelled here by adopting a recently proposed network theory developed for rubber elasticity. Previous studies of necking instabilities have almost invariably employed idealized prismatic specimens; here, we explicitly account for the unavoidable grip sections of test specimens. The effects of initial imperfections, strain softening, orientation hardening, strain-rate as well as of specimen geometry and boundary conditions are discussed. The physical mechanisms for necking and neck propagation, in terms of our constitutive model, are discussed on the basis of a detailed parameter study.     

Marciniak–Kuczynski type modelling of the effect of Through-Thickness Shear on the forming limits of sheet metal

The Marciniak–Kuczynski (MK) forming limit model is extended in order to predict localized necking in sheet metal forming operations in which Through-Thickness Shear (TTS), also known as out-of-plane shear, occurs. An example of such a forming operation is Single Point Incremental Forming. The Forming Limit Diagram (FLD) of a purely plastic, isotropic hardening material with von Mises yield locus is discussed, for monotonic deformation paths that include TTS. If TTS is present in the plane containing the critical groove direction in the MK model, it is seen that formability is increased for all in-plane strain modes, except equibiaxial stretching. The increase in formability due to TTS is explained through a detailed study of some selected deformation modes. The underlying mechanism is a change of the stress mode in the groove that results in a delay of the onset of localized necking.     

Measurement of the shapes of foil bulge-test samples

Accurate measurements of important tensile properties of thin metal foils are often quite difficult to achieve in uniaxial tests because of sample-preparation difficulties and the tensile instability called necking. Consequently, hydraulic bulge tests have been introduced as a successful means of suppressing these problems through the use of a simplified specimen geometry and biaxial rather than uniaxial tensile-stress states. Considerable effort has been made by various investigators to relate such biaxial stress-strain and ductility data to uniaxial data, generally following the assumption that the bulge is shaped like a spherical cap. The present study evaluates this assumption for foils by measuring actual shapes with unprecedented accuracy and detail using the two-source holographic technique and a polynomial-spline computer analysis of the resulting interferograms. These measurements were made on nine specimens of 0.127-mm-thick annealed rolled copper foil which had been deformed into bulges of varying heights up to rupture. A comparison is made between the measured shapes and the spherical-cap shape generally assumed in the interpretation of bulge-test data. The spherical assumption gives results which are reasonably valid for the later stages of deformation. Indeed, the stress-strain curve obtained from bulge testing corresponds closely with the uniaxial tensile curves for this material. The strain at failure (i.e., elongation) was greater in the biaxial bulge test than in the uniaxial test but not nearly as great as the strain expected from a theoretical model proposed by Hill. However, all the specimens measured exhibited localized areas with larger radii of curvature. The presence of these “flats” may be associated with a mode of failure in the bulge test which corresponds to necking instability in the uniaxial test, and thereby account for the limited strain to failure.     

Instability and failure of internally pressurized ductile metal cylinders

Forlong, ductile, thick-walled tubes under internal pressure instabilities and final failure modes are studied experimentally and theoretically. The test specimens are closed-end cylinders made of an aluminum alloy and of pure copper and the experiments have been carried out for a number of different initial external radius to internal radius ratios. The experiments show necking on one side of the tubes at a stage somewhat beyond the maximum internal pressure. All tubes, except for one aluminum alloy tube, failed by shear fracture under decreasing pressure. The aluminum alloy tubes exhibited localized shear deformations in the neck region prior to fracture and also occasionally surface wave instabilities. The numerical investigation is based on an elastic-plastic material model for a solid that develops a vertex on the yield surface, using representations of the uniaxial stress-strain curves found experimentally. In contrast to the simplest flow theory of plasticity this material model predicts shear band instabilities at a realistic level of strain. A rather sharp vertex is used in the material model for the aluminum alloy, while a more blunt vertex is used to characterize copper. The theoretically predicted bifurcation into a necking mode, the cross-sectional shape of the neck, and finally the initiation and growth of shear bands from the highly strained internal surface in the neck region are in good agreement with the experimental observations.     

Necking of pressurized spherical membranes

The necking of spherical membranes subject to a prescribed increase in enclosed volume is investigated. Attention is restricted to axisymmetric deformations. The materials considered are incompressible, isotropic, time-independent and incrementally linear. A complete set of axisymmetric bifurcation modes is considered and a simple relation is found to govern the critical stress for bifurcation into a given mode. The limiting critical stress and the corresponding mode for short wavelengths are investigated and related to the results obtained from an independent local-necking analysis. Two perturbation methods are employed to study the growth of initial imperfections: one is valid for arbitrary modes, but restricted to small deviations from sphericity, and the other is valid only for the local-necking mode, but is not restricted to small deviations. The effect of path-dependent material behavior on the onset of local necking is explored. Path-dependent material behavior is found to encourage the preferential growth of short wavelength imperfections. Path-independent materials are shown to exhibit significant sensitivity to initial imperfections in the localized-necking mode, although this sensitivity is far less than for a path-dependent material. When account is taken of initial material-property inhomogeneities as well as initial thickness imperfections, it seems that no definite conclusion can be drawn concerning the appropriateness or inappropriateness of an explanation of the onset of localized necking based on a smooth yield-surface plasticity theory and assuming the presence of such initial inhomogeneities.     

Analysis of deformation localization based on proposed theory of ultrasonic wave velocity propagating in plastically deformed solids

The localization of plastic deformation is discussed as “stationary discontinuity” characterized by a vanishing velocity of an acceleration wave derived using the author’s proposed theory of ultrasonic wave velocities propagating in plastically deformed solids. To formulate the proposed theory, the elasto-plastic coupling effect was introduced to consider the elastic stiffness degradation due to the plastic deformation. The driving force of the deformation localization is caused by the yield vertex effect, which introduces a pronounced softening of the shear modulus, and geometrical softening due to double slip caused by lattice rotations. In the present paper, it is examined theoretically and experimentally that the diagonal terms of the introduced elasto-plastic coupling tensor represent a slight hardening followed by a pronounced softening of the elastic modulus induced by the point defect development caused by cross slides among dislocations at multiple slip stages similar to the yield vertex effects. The off-diagonal terms represent geometrical softening induced by lattice rotations such as texture evolution. Then, based on the coincidence of the onset strains between localization and acceleration waves of vanishing velocity, the diagrams of diffuse necking, localized necking and forming limit are analyzed by applying the proposed acoustic tensor, which is based on the generalized Christoffel tensor derived by the author, and solving cut off conditions of the quasi-longitudinal wave to determine the onset strains of deformation localization and localization modes. As a result, diagrams of diffuse necking, localized necking and forming limit were obtained. Moreover, the localization modes were determined and distinguished as the SH-mode, SV-mode, tearing mode and splitting mode.     

Bifurcation in compressible elastic/plastic cylinders under uniaxial tension

The bifurcation problem of a circular cylinder of elastic/plastic material under uniaxial tension is investigated, with particular reference to the usual engineering criterion that necking is initiated when the load on the specimen reaches a maximum. The material considered is compressible, with a smooth yield surface and associated flow rule. A lower bound analysis shows that for the particular constitutive equation chosen bifurcation cannot occur under a range of loading conditions while the stress is less than a certain value which is itself slightly less than the stress at the maximum load point. Diffuse axisymmetric necking modes under the commonly assumed loading conditions of prescribed axial components of velocity and shear-free traction-rates on the ends are, however, found to be initiated always after maximum load, the delay depending on the same factors shown for an incompressible material in reference [1]. The effect of the elastic compressibility assumption is to reduce the delay for a wide range of geometries, but to increase it for very slender specimens, as compared with the incompressible case. Surface modes are also found, but at stresses of an unrealistically high order of magnitude.     

Texture development and plastic anisotropy of B.C.C. strain hardening sheet metals

A Taylor-like polycrystal model is adopted here to investigate the plastic behavior of body centered cubic (b.c.c.) sheet metals under plane-strain compression and the subsequent in-plane biaxial stretching conditions. The <111> pencil glide system is chosen for the slip mechanism for b.c.c. sheet metals. The {110} <111> and {112} <111> slip systems are also considered. Plane-strain compression is used to simulate the cold rolling processes of a low-carbon steel sheet. Based on the polycrystal model, pole figures for the sheet metal after plane-strain compression are obtained and compared with the corresponding experimental results. Also, the simulated plane-strain stress—strain relations are compared with the corresponding experimental results. For the sheet metal subjected to the subsequent in-plane biaxial stretching and shear, plastic potential surfaces are determined at a given small amount of plastic work. With the assumption of the equivalence of the plastic potential and the yield function with normality flow, the yield surfaces based on the simulations for the sheet metal are compared with those based on several phenomenological planar anisotropic yield criteria. The effects of the slip system and the magnitude of plastic work on the shape and size of the yield surfaces are shown. The plastic anisotropy of the sheet metal is investigated in terms of the uniaxial yield stresses in different planar orientations and the corresponding values of the anisotropy parameter R, defined as the ratio of the width plastic strain rate to the through-thickness plastic strain rate under in-plane uniaxial tensile loading. The uniaxial yield stresses and the values of R at different planar orientations from the polycrystal model can be fitted well by a yield function recently proposed by Barlat et al. (1997b).     

Strain localization analysis for planar polycrystals based on bifurcation theory

In the present paper, an efficient numerical tool is developed to investigate the ductility limit of polycrystalline aggregates under in-plane biaxial loading. These aggregates are assumed to be representative of very thin sheet metals (with typically few grains through the thickness). Therefore, the plane-stress assumption is naturally adopted to numerically predict the occurrence of strain localization. Furthermore, the initial crystallographic texture is assumed to be planar. Considering the latter assumptions, a two-dimensional single-crystal model is advantageously chosen to describe the mechanical behavior at the microscopic scale. The mechanical behavior of the planar polycrystalline aggregate is derived from that of single crystals by using the full-constraint Taylor scale-transition scheme. To predict the occurrence of localized necking, the developed multiscale model is coupled with bifurcation theory. As will be demonstrated through various numerical results, in the case of biaxial loading under plane-stress conditions, the planar single-crystal model provides the same predictions as those given by the more commonly used three-dimensional single-crystal model. Moreover, the use of the two-dimensional model instead of the three-dimensional one allows dividing the number of active slip systems by two and, hence, significantly reducing the CPU time required for the integration of the constitutive equations at the single-crystal scale. Furthermore, the planar polycrystal model seems to be more suitable to study the ductility of very thin sheet metals, as its use allows us to rigorously ensure the plane-stress state, which is not always the case when the fully three-dimensional polycrystalline model is employed. Consequently, the adoption of this planar formulation, instead of the three-dimensional one, allows us to simplify the computational aspects and, accordingly, to considerably reduce the CPU time required for the numerical predictions.     

Neck development in metal/elastomer bilayers under dynamic stretchings

Dynamic stretching of bilayer plates comprised of an elastomer layer bonded to a metal layer is studied with emphasis on neck development under plane strain. Neck retardation and multiple necks in the metal layer are promoted by the elastomer layer under quasi-static conditions and also by inertia in the all-metal layer under dynamic stretching. The present study explores the interaction of these two effects under the assumption that ductility is unlimited. The study reveals the roles of the elastomer modulus, the metal strength and the rate of stretching in giving rise to necking retardation.