Copper-Induced Strengthening in 0.2 C Bainite Steel

Bainitic steels were the focus of this study. These steels have the potential to obtain a good combination of strength, ductility, and edge stretchability, which is a very desirable characteristic in the automotive industry. Cu precipitation potential was investigated during prolonged isothermal bainitization treatment. Precipitation strengthening and ductility were measured using a tensile test, and edge stretchability was measured using a hole expansion test. The microstructure was characterized by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy and an electron backscattered diffraction. Lower bainite was obtained by austenitization treatment and subsequent immersion into a salt bath at 400 °C. Cu precipitation occurred after 120 min of holding in the bath and enhanced the yield stress of the Cu-alloyed steel by 120 MPa as compared with a reference steel without Cu. The strengthening did not affect ductility and decreased the edge stretchability by 10%. Steels with different Mn contents were examined. It was found that the enhancement of Mn content from 1 to 2 wt.% did not boost Cu strengthening ability. This result showed that the presence of Mn did not cause an Mn-Cu precipitation strengthening synergy, observed previously during martensite tempering procedure.

Blank thinning predictions of an aluminum alloy in hole expansion process using finite element method

The main objective of this study is to accurately predict the thinning behavior of AA6016-O aluminum alloy in the hole expansion test. In order to perform this aim, three yield functions, namely isotropic von Mises, quadratic Hill48 and non-quadratic Yld91, are considered and their prediction capabilities are evaluated in this study. Firstly, finite element (FE) model of hole expansion test is created by implicit FE software Marc, then FE simulations are performed with each yield criterion. In order to assess prediction capabilities of these yield criteria, thickness strain distributions along the three directions of the sheet (rolling, diagonal and transversal) and punch force–displacement curves are investigated. The results predicted from FE analyses are compared with experimental results. From the comparisons, it is observed that Yld91 yield criterion could successfully predict the thickness strain distributions along the rolling and transverse directions, whereas the other two criteria could only predict the thickness strain distributions along the diagonal direction. On the other hand, it is determined that punch force–displacement curves predicted from three models are identical and these predictions are overestimated compared to experimental data.