Forming limit and fracture mechanism of ferritic stainless steel sheets

In this work, the forming limit curves (FLCs) of two ferritic stainless steel sheets, AISI409L and AISI430, were predicted with the Marciniak–Kuczynski (MK) and Bressan–William–Hill (BWH) models, combined with the Yld2000-2d yield function and the Swift hardening law. Uniaxial tension, disk compression and hydraulic bulge tests were performed to determine the yield loci and hardening curves of both materials. Meanwhile, the strain rate sensitivity (SRS) coefficient was measured through uniaxial tension tests carried out at different strain rates. Out-of-plane stretching tests were conducted in sheet specimens to obtain the surface limit strains under different linear strain paths. Micrographs of the specimens fractured in different stress states were obtained by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The overall results show that the BWH model can predict the FLC better than the MK model, and that the SRS does not have much effect on the limit strains for both materials. The predicted FLCs and micrograph analysis both indicate that failure occurs by surface localized necking in uniaxial and plane strain tension states, whereas it occurs by localized shearing in the through thickness direction in balanced biaxial tension state.