Size effect on the cyclic deformation behavior of superalloy ultrathin sheet: Characterization and multiscale modelling

Abstract

Superalloy ultrathin sheets have high strength, outstanding oxidation resistance, corrosion resistance and fatigue performance, and its thin-walled components occupy a considerable proportion in aeroengines. In the microforming process of aeroengine thin-walled components, the superalloy ultrathin sheet is often deformed under complex loading states and shows obvious springback. However, the forming and springback laws of superalloy ultrathin sheet in the microforming process are not clear and often affected by size effect. In addition, the existing nonlinear kinematic hardening models cannot accurately forecast the deformation and springback of superalloy ultrathin sheets. To address this issue, the cyclic shearing tests were performed to systemically explore the size effect on Bauschinger effect, permanent softening, transient hardening and work hardening stagnation of superalloy ultrathin sheets under cyclic loading states. The mechanism of size effect on cyclic mechanical response was systematically revealed through microstructure evolution combined with surface layer effect. In addition, a new multiscale cyclic hardening model was proposed based on the Y-U model and size effect on cyclic deformation behavior of superalloy ultrathin sheets. The new multiscale cyclic hardening model coupling surface layer effect and grain boundary strengthening effect was constructed by modeling the relationship between the cyclic mechanical response and size effect. Comparisons between the original Y-U model and the new proposed model on the characterization effect of shear stress-strain curves demonstrated that the proposed cyclic hardening model can accurately present the cyclic deformation behavior. To further verify the prediction capability of the proposed cyclic hardening model, the springback behavior of superalloy ultrathin sheet in U-bending test and hydroforming of seal ring was predicted via the proposed model combined with the decrease of elastic modulus and Yld2000–2d yield criterion, and the predicted results were compared with experimental ones. Comparative research revealed that the proposed cyclic hardening model can accurately describe the cyclic deformation behavior and springback of superalloy ultrathin sheets affected by size effect.