Modeling the Electroplastic Effect During Electrically-Assisted Forming of 304 Stainless Steel

Abstract

Over the last decade, the Electrically-Assisted Manufacturing (EAM) technique, where electricity is applied to a metal during deformation, has been experimentally proven to increase the workability of many lightweight alloys which are highly desirable to the automotive industry. Recent research by the authors has led to ways of accounting for the formability increases due to the applied electricity, by way of an Electroplastic Effect Coefficient (EEC), and by utilizing this coefficient, simple EAM forming tests can ultimately be modeled. This work provides insight into the authors’ EAM modeling methodology and how it differs from previous EAM modeling attempts. Additionally, from the Electrically-Assisted Forming (EAF) experiments, two methods of accounting for the electroplastic effect will be discussed and compared. Ultimately, these methods will be integrated into the thermo-mechanical model to predict compressive stress-strain profiles for electrically-assisted forming tests under various current densities and die speeds. Finally, the efficiency of applying electricity to the deformation process will be discussed.