Development of a Plane Strain Tensile Geometry to Assess Shear Fracture in Dual Phase Steels

Abstract

A geometrically modified sample capable of generating a triaxial stress state when tested on a standard uniaxial tensile frame was developed to replicate shear fractures observed during stretch bend tests and industrial sheet stamping operations. Seven commercially produced dual phase (DP) steels were tested using the geometrically modified sample, and the modified sample successfully produced shear fractures on a unique shear plane for all steels. For each steel, void densities were determined, based on metallographic analyses, as a function of imposed displacement. Microstructural properties of ferrite and martensite grain size, martensite volume fraction (MVF), retained austenite content, Vickers hardness, average nanoindentation hardness, average ferrite and martensite constituent hardness, and tensile properties were obtained in order to evaluate potential correlations with void data. A linear correlation was observed between Vickers hardness and the average nanoindentation hardness, verifying the ability of nanoindentation to produce data consistent with more traditional hardness measurement techniques. A linear relationship was observed between the number of voids present at 90% failure displacement and the martensite/ferrite hardness ratio, indicating that a decrease in relative hardness difference in a microstructure can suppress void formation, and potentially extend formability limits. The void population appeared independent of MVF, grain size, and tensile properties suggesting that constituent hardness may be a dominant parameter when considering suppression of void nucleation in DP steels.