Numerical analysis of damage and fracture in steel sheets undergoing non-proportional loading paths

Abstract

The paper deals with the numerical analysis of damage and fracture mechanisms in steel sheets. Newly developed H-specimens are taken from thin sheets and are tested under different biaxial loading conditions. Results of numerical simulations of a series of biaxial experiments are presented showing also the effect of non-proportional loading paths on inelastic deformation behavior and on damage processes. In this context, an anisotropic continuum damage model is presented based on yield and damage conditions as well as evolution laws for plastic and damage strain rates. Different stress-state-dependent branches of the damage criteria are taken into account corresponding to various damage and failure processes on the micro-scale depending on the stress triaxiality and the Lode parameter. Experiments with the biaxially loaded H-specimen have been performed. Results for proportional and corresponding non-proportional loading histories are discussed. During the experiments strain fields in critical regions of the specimens are analyzed by digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Numerical simulations of the experiments have been performed and numerical results are compared with experimental data. Furthermore, based on the numerical analysis evolution of stress variables is examined and stress distributions in critical specimens areas are detected allowing prediction of stress-state-dependent damage and fracture mechanisms. The numerical results also demonstrate the efficiency of the experimental program and the new specimens geometries covering stress states in the shear-tension regime as well as the effect of the loading histories on inelastic deformation and damage behavior in steel sheets.