ME 302 Experimental Engineering

FORMABILITY OF METALS
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this experiment is, to provide a logic comparison of sheet metals cold formability by conducting some mechanical experiments. INTRODUCTION Formability is capability of a material to be shaped by plastic deformation without any damage. Formability depends on combination of material properties and deformation processes. Effects of material properties on formability are controlled by yield strength, elongation at fracture, strain hardening exponent, Young Modulus, strain rate sensitivity exponent, plastic anisotropyetc.[3](Detailed review of material properties is in the below) There are also technological tests like Erichsen Test, Swift Cup Test, Bending Test etc. For many years there has been need of rapid tests which could be used to differentiate between different metals and grade of metal for use in metal forming operations like cold forging, cold extrusion, cold rolling, tube-sinking or wire-drawing. These tests have no analytic or theoretic background. Technological tests are just used for comparative matters. Conducting these experiments is fast and easy. (Detailed review of Erichsen Test is in the below). Swift Cup Test: Another common method to test sheet formability is the swift cupping test. It is similar to Erichsen test but punch is cylinder. Circular blanks with increasing diameter Do are deep drawn into a cylindrical cup and the maximum diameter Do max is determined. Dividing by the punch diameter it gives the limiting draw ratio:[2] o max = Do max / do Bending Test: The Bending test is performed to determine the ductility of sheet materials. In the test, the specimen is bent to a specified angle on a mandrel or a specified radius until fracture. The ductility of the sheet is judged by the cracks on the outside of the specimen. Result is interpreted comparatively upon the material specifications. Radius to thickness ratio is described as bendability that a sheet is bent without a crack development on the surface.

(a)

(b) Figure 1. a) Swift Cup Test b) Bending Test 1

ME 302 Experimental Engineering

In this experiment, Tensile Test and Erichsen Test are used to obtain formability of sheet metals. The data obtained (Yield strength, Elongation at fracture, Strain Hardening Exponent and Erichsen Number) from these tests provide formability characteristic of sheet metals.

1. Mechanical properties that affect cold formability:

Increase in strength due to the work hardening

Stress

x1=elastic limit x3=rupture point

x1

Strain

x2

x3

Figure 2. Stress- Strain diagram

a. Yield Point: No deformation of a metal can occur until this limit is exceeded. So the yield point determines the force required to start permanent deformation. b. Strain Hardening: Once deformation is initiated, the moving dislocations interact with each other and with the grain boundaries; therefore continuing yielding becomes more difficult. This mechanism is called strain (or work) hardening. In the cold forming temperature range the relation between flow stress and plastic strain is given by: where is the flow stress, K is the strength coefficient, is the plastic strain and n is the work hardening exponent. Strain hardening has positive and negative effects on cold formability: Negative: Higher work hardening means higher load and energy need, high tool wear and higher cost. Positive: If there is no work hardening local necking will occur during the stretching of the materials. There will be no uniform plastic deformation.

ME 302 Experimental Engineering c. Ductility: Ductility indicates the amount of plastic deformation before fracture (the length between 0 and x3 in Figure 1.). Higher ductility means higher plastic deformation, thus higher cold formability. 2. Erichsen Test: Erichsen Test is used to determine the formability of a certain sheet metal. Erichsen Test is a cupping test in which a piece of sheet metal, restrained except at the center, is deformed by a cone-shaped spherical-end plunger until fracture occurs. The height of the cup in millimeters at fracture is a measure of the ductility and suitability for deep drawing [2]. Erichsen Test is a very popular test which gives an excellent account of current metallurgical practice in producing pressed and deep drawn components [2].

Figure 3. Erichsen Test[1] In the Erichsen Test, the punch is pressed into the sheet until fracture occurs, at which point the test is stopped immediately and the depth of the bulge noted. This depth (mm) gives the Erichsen number. The Erichsen number obviously gives a measure of the ductility of the sheet in the plane of drawing under biaxial stress conditions. There is no analytical theory on Erichsen test, this test is used for comparative purposes of sheet metals.[2]

ME 302 Experimental Engineering EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Follow instructions below to compare formability of given sheet metals. 1. Tensile Test: Holloman equation is;

Where and are true stress and true strain respectively, with K and n constants for a given metal or alloy. By plotting log true stress against log true strain a value of n can be obtained.[4] Or using linearization in least squares methods. With extansometer, Measure the dimensions of your test specimen. (width and thickness) Determine an appropriate gage length (approx. 50 mm) and mark it on the specimen. Connect the extansometer Run the Testometric Software on the computer and load the specimen onto the machine. Enter your specimens dimensions in the software before starting test. Start the test. When machine alerts, stop test and remove the extansometer. Unload the specimen. Without extansometer, Measure the dimensions of your test specimen. (width and thickness) Determine an appropriate gage length (approx. 50 mm) and mark it on the specimen. Run the Testometric Software on the computer and load the specimen onto the machine. Enter your specimens dimensions in the software before starting test. Start the test. When the rupture occurs the machine will stop automatically. Unload the specimen turn off the software and machine. Measure the final dimensions of your specimen. Do same procedure for other sheet metals. After these tests these values must be obtained; n: Strain Hardening Exponent yield: Yield Strength, f: Elongation at fracture, 2. Erichsen Test: A servo-mechanical testing machine will be used in this experiment. The sheet specimen with known dimensions will be stretched by a hemispherical punch with diameter 20 mm until fracture occurs.

ME 302 Experimental Engineering

Figure 3. Experimental setup of Erichsen Test Install the punch. Make sure the specimen tightened enough not to slip during experiment. Run the test machine software on the computer. Select the Erichsen Test option in the software. Enter the test parameters and specimen dimensions. Start the test and wait until fracture occurs. When the fracture occurs the system will stop automatically. Do same procedure for other sheet metals

Presentation of Results and Discussion 1. Make a brief research about cold formability of sheet metals (Keywords: cold work, plastic deformation, ) 2. Calculate/Measure/Find all the data that affects formability of sheet metals used in this experiment. Note: obtain n value by considering 5 points (at least) in true stress and true strain diagram. 3. Make a table that compares parameters of these sheet metals. How do these parameters affect formability? Make a comment each one 4. Explain which metal have better sheet formability? Why? 5. Do not forget to attach yor calculations and diagrams to your report References 1. http://aluminium.matter.org.uk 2. Plasticity and Computer-Aided Metal Forming Laboratory Experiments, Erichsen Test, METU. 3. Workability Testing Techniques, George E. Dieter, Metals Park-Ohio, American Society for Metals, c1984 4. http://www.steeluniversity.org/content/html/eng/1320-0160.htm