FailureAnalysisofAdvancedHighStrengthSteelsduring.docVIP

Failure Analysis of Advanced High Strength Steels during Stretch-bending EWI: W. Gan and S. S. Babu OSU: R. Wagoner Deform: W. Wu Background Current Status Shear cracking has been observed during stamping of advanced high strength steels (AHSS), without appreciable thinning before fracture. (See Figure 1, from the PI’s research, for the difference between plastic localization and shear fracture in tension.) Review of literature shows that such shear cracking is not typically encountered in traditional HSLA steels during forming. Moreover, this type of early fracture cannot be predicted by conventional forming limit diagram of AHSS. Therefore, a new failure criterion needs to be developed to predict shear cracking so that product and tooling design can be performed correctly to avoid fracture during stamping. The absence of shear failure in HSLA steels under normal forming conditions as compared to AHSS requires both fundamental understanding and practical methods for designing forming operations. Assuming that the lubricant condition and strain histories during forming are similar for AHSS and conventional steels, the obvious difference is the underlying microstructure or possibly a dramatic difference of constitutive response at high strain. While HSLA has only ferrite and pearlite microstructure in the sheet, most AHSS have multiple microstructures co-existing, such as ferrite, bainite, martensite, and retained austenite. The complexity of the microstructure may give rise to a shear-localization mode that involves little macroscopic necking under some forming conditions. In order to address the needs of automotive sheet forming with AHSS, a multi-faceted project is proposed. It makes use of microstructural characterization, fracture analysis, macroscopic property determination, practical experiments representing forming practice, and continuum simulation. Two major outcomes are expected: a fundamental understanding of the shear fracture me