Determination of true stress-strain curve of type 304 and 316 stainless steels using a typical tensile test and finite element analysis

Abstract

Knowing a material’s true stress-strain curve is essential for performing a nonlinear finite element analysis to solve an elastoplastic problem. This study presents a simple methodology to determine the true stress-strain curve of type 304 and 316 austenitic stainless steels in the full range of strain from a typical tensile test. Before necking, the true stress and strain values are directly converted from engineering stress and strain data, respectively. After necking, a true stress-strain equation is determined by iteratively conducting finite element analysis using three pieces of information at the necking and the fracture points. The Hockett-Sherby equation is proposed as an optimal stress-strain model in a non-uniform deformation region. The application to the stainless steel under different temperatures and loading conditions verifies that the strain hardening behavior of the material is adequately described by the determined equation, and the estimated engineering stress-strain curves are in good agreement with those of experiments. The presented method is intrinsically simple to use and reduces iterations because it does not require much experimental effort and adopts the approach of determining the stress-strain equation instead of correcting the individual stress at each strain point.