Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences (2014) 26, 184–190

King Saud University

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Formability and fracture studies of austenitic

stainless steel 316 at different temperatures
Syed Mujahed Hussaini a, Swadesh Kumar Singh b,*
, Amit Kumar Gupta a

a
Mech Engg Dept., BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, AP 500 078, India
b
Dept. of Mech Engg, GRIET, Bachupally, Hyderabad, AP 500 090, India

Received 3 February 2013; accepted 5 May 2013

Available online 11 May 2013

KEYWORDS Abstract Deep drawing is one of the most important sheet metal forming processes in automotive,
Sheet metal; aerospace and nuclear industries. In this process, the sheet metal blank is formed into a cup shape
Deep drawing; by an application of punch into the die. The present work is aimed at studying the formability and
Fracture the nature of fracture for one of the important materials in industrial applications, austenitic stain-
less steel 316 at different temperatures. Circular blanks were deep drawn at room temperature, 150
and 300 C using a 20 Ton hydraulic press coupled with a furnace and found that formability of the
austenitic stainless steel 316 increased as the temperature was increased. This material underwent
dynamic strain aging between 350 and 550 C. Fractured surface of the broken tensile test specimen
at different regions were studied and analyzed using scanning electron microscope. It was observed
that the nature of the fracture was brittle in dynamic strain aging region.
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1. Introduction the work piece is subjected to different types of stresses. There

In the modern industry, the deep drawing process is used
extensively. This is a complex forming process which involves
tension (cup wall), bending (punch and die corners) and com-
pression (cup flange). Both high tensile strength and better
ductility in compression are required for the deep drawing
material (Jiang et al., 1995). During a deep drawing operation,
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91(40)64601921.
E-mail address: swadeshsingh@griet.ac.in (S.K. Singh).
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
are radial stresses in flange due to the blank being pulled into
the die cavity and compressive stress normal to the sheet which
is due to the blank-holder pressure. The radial tensile stresses
lead to compressive hoop stresses because of the reduction in
the circumferential direction. The flange of the blank attempts
to wrinkle due to hoop stresses, however the blank-holder
should prevent this from happening. Cup wall is primarily
experiencing a longitudinal tensile stress, as the punch trans-
mits the drawing force through the walls of the cup and
through the flange as it is drawn into the die cavity. There is
also a tensile hoop stress caused by the cup being held tightly
over the punch. The punch force is limited to the maximum
tensile load that can be carried by the wall of the cup and this
in turn limits the depth of the flange that can be drawn (Black
et al., 1996).

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Formability and fracture studies of austenitic stainless steel 316 at different temperatures 185

The plastic forming of sheet metals is the production of a

Table 1 Chemical composition of ASS 316.
certain material under the right conditions, such as suitable
stress rate and low pressure without wrinkles. Mamalis et al. Fe Cr Ni Mo Si Mn Cu Co C
(1997) has investigated the deep drawing of cylindrical boxes 67.69 16.63 10.85 2.42 1.28 0.38 0.21 0.21 0.018
with the effect of forming characteristics of the material simu-
lation. Mattiasson (2000) has studied the simulation of tin me-
tal forming in the industry. Although the deep drawing process
for high strength/low formability metals has an extensive
industrial application but drawing at room temperature, has
serious difficulties because of the large amount of deforma-
tions and high flow stresses of the materials (Bolt et al.,
2001). Drawing at elevated temperatures decreases the flow
stresses, relieve residual stresses and increases the formability
of the materials hence deformations become easier (Swadesh
Kumar Singh et al., 2010a,b). Since elevated temperature re-
sults in decreased flow stresses and increased formability in
the sheet, it allows deeper drawing and more stretching to form
products (Van den Boogaard et al., 2001).
Stainless steels can be employed in many industrial applica-
tions due to its high strength. These materials are essentially
nonmagnetic in the annealed condition and can be hardened
only by cold working. They usually possess excellent cryogenic
properties and good high-temperature strength and oxidation
resistance. Austenitic stainless steels offer excellent corrosion
resistance in organic, acid, industrial and marine environ-
ments. The non-magnetic properties combined with exception- Figure 1 UTM for tensile testing at differenct temperatures.
ally high toughness at all temperatures make these steels an
excellent selection for many marine, nuclear and space appli-
Table 2 Mechanical properties of ASS 316 at various
cations. Various investigations have recently been carried
temperatures.
out to understand the properties of these materials at higher
temperatures. These properties are essential to carry out Finite Temperature Youngs Yield strength Strain Hardening
Eelement (FE) studies while drawing the material in warm modulus (in MPa) hardening co-efficient (K)
(in GPa) index (n) (in MPa)
conditions. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models are also
developed to calculate these properties at unknown tempera- Room 205 191.34 0.3819 1106
tures (Amit Kumar Gupta et al., 2012; Swadesh Kumar Singh temp (C)
et al., 2010). 150 194.4 175.63 0.3981 984.9
300 149.5 169.3 0.4002 872.5
Despite the large application range of stainless steel in the
450 147.2 163.7 0.4703 988.7
industry there is still a lack of knowledge about its formability
600 126.2 141.8 0.452 849.3
and fracture in particular for the austenitic stainless steel
(ASS) 316. These facts have led to a thorough study to under-
stand the formability behavior of this material and its nature
of fracture. The determination of these conditions implies
not only the usual mechanical characterization but also the
performance during the deep drawing process. The limiting
drawing ratio (LDR) is defined as the ratio of the maximum
blank diameter to the cup diameter which can produce without
failure or fracture of the cup. The LDR is commonly used to
provide a measure of the formability of sheet metal (Gupta
and Chakravartty, 2000; Ramadoss and Rajadurai, 2009;
Singh Swadesh Kumar, 2008; Avitzur, 1983).
Characteristics of Dynamic Strain Aging (DSA) were ob-
served in ASS316 in a temperature range of 350–550 C (Ben-
allala et al., 2006). Serrated flow behavior, sharp yield points,
negative strain-rate sensitivity are the few characteristics of
DSA. These are due to the diffusion of solute atoms to mobile
dislocations which leads to the variations of strength, ductility
and strain hardening parameters with temperature (Benallal
et al., 2003). In the present investigation, deep drawing of dif-
ferent diameters of circular blanks was used to find the LDR of
drawn cups at different temperatures. Nature of fracture sur-
faces below the DSA region and in the DSA region is studied
by scanning electron microscopic images. Figure 2 Experimental test rig.
186
Figure 3 Drawing cups at LDR at different temperatures: (a)
room temp, U66 mm; (b) 150 C, U70 mm; (c) 300 C, U74 mm.
Figure 4 Fractured cup at punch corner.
2. Material and experimentation
The material used in this study is ASS 316 sheet of 1.0 mm
thick. ASS316 is a molybdenum-bearing austenitic stainless
steel which is more resistant to pitting and crevice corrosion
than the conventional chromium–nickel austenitic stainless
steels such as Alloy 304. These alloys also offer higher creep
strength, stress-to-rupture and tensile strength at elevated tem-
peratures. These alloys contain 2–3% molybdenum, which are
enhanced corrosion resistance. Resistance to pitting and cre-
vice corrosion in the presence of chloride and other halide ions
Figure 5 Force vs time step for deep drawn cup from different diameter blanks: (a) at room temperature; (b) at 150 C; (c) 300 C.
S.M. Hussaini et al.
is enhanced by higher chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo)
content. Chemical composition of ASS316 sheet metal blank,
which is under investigation, is listed in Table 1.
ASS 316 is primarily an austenitic phase and small quanti-
ties of ferrite may be present, due to the presence of these
phases it is having excellent toughness besides high strength.
This combination of properties provides the excellent fabrica-
bility and formability to the material. Mechanical properties of
these materials were obtained by uniaxial tensile testing of
specimen at various temperatures on Universal Testing Ma-
chine (UTM) shown in Fig. 1. From the test data stress vs.
strain graph was plotted and various tensile properties were
measured and are tabulated in Table 2. Elastic properties such
as Yield strength and Young’s modulus were found from the
elastic portion of the graph and plastic properties strain hard-
ening index (n) and hardening co-efficient (K) were from the
plastic portion of the graph.
The deep drawing was carried out on the experimental test
rig which is shown in Fig. 2. This test rig is specially designed
so that deep drawing operations can be performed at elevated
temperatures. There is a tendency in the materials to change
dimensions at higher temperatures, so a nickel based super al-
loy Inconel-600 was used in designing and manufacturing die,
blank holder and punch. Two sets of heaters were installed
on a 20 ton hydraulic press. One heater is utilized to heat the
blank maximum up to 300 C and another induction coil is at-
tached to the lower die in order to prevent the blank from
becoming cold before actual drawing starts as shown in
Fig. 2. The temperatures are recorded by using pyrometer
which is a noncontact temperature detecting instrument. This
works on the principle of capturing the wavelength of the radi-
ation that is emitted by the material. A data acquisition system
which is connected to the press obtains inputs like punch tra-
vel, load applied on the blank, blank holding pressure from the
press and is connected to the computer where it directly out-
puts plots like variation of load with displacement and blank
holding pressure.
The blanks are made into circular shapes of different diam-
eters in the increment of 2 mm from 60 mm onwards, by using
shearing and lathe machine. The die is heated and when it
reaches the required temperature (150 C or 300 C), the lubri-
cant is applied at the contact surfaces so that the friction at the
elevated temperature can be reduced. Once die reaches the re-
quired temperature blank is heated (as blank gets heated up
quicker than the die so the die is heated before the blank),
Formability and fracture studies of austenitic stainless steel 316 at different temperatures 187

Figure 6 Stress vs strain at different temperatures and 0.01 strain rate.

placed on the die and deep drawing is performed. The lubrica- temperature was controlled and is prevented from overheating
tion used for the reduction of friction between die and punch by means of water circulation from a cooling tower.
assembly is Molycote. It contains a molybdenum base material The limiting drawing ratio (LDR) of the ASS 316 is deter-
which is highly effective at elevated temperatures. The setup mined by performing a series of deep drawing tests on circular

Figure 7 SEM images of tensile test fractured specimen at 0.01 strain rate and temperature at (a) room temperature, (b) 150 C, (c)
450 C, (d) 600 C.
188
blanks of 1 mm thickness and different diameters in the incre-
ment of 2 mm. Various cups are drawn from blank sizes rang-
ing from diameter of 64–74 mm at different temperatures.
LDR at these temperatures was estimated experimentally.
The fractured surface features of the object and its texture
are directly related with the material properties. Most com-
monly fracture surface studies are conducted by scanning elec-
tron microscopy (SEM). The SEM has a large depth of field,
which allows a large amount of the sample to be in focus at
one time and produces an image that is a good representation.
In different parts of the surface fracture morphologies were
observed.
3. Results and discussion
Different diameters of the blanks were drawn on the setup
shown in Fig 1. Cups were drawn at room temperature,
150 C and 300 C. Fig. 3 shows the drawn cups from the max-
imum diameter of blanks without fracture at these tempera-
tures. The next higher size of the blank is fractured at the
punch corners while drawing as shown in Fig. 4. At room tem-
perature a maximum of U66 mm blank can be deep drawn
safely. At higher temperatures (150 C and 300 C) even bigger
sizes of the blanks can be deep drawn. At 150 C 70 mm and at
Figure 8 SEM images of tensile test fractured specimen at 450 C and strain rate of (a) 0.1, (b) 0.01, (c) 0.001.
S.M. Hussaini et al.
300 C 74 mm of blanks are safely deep drawn. LDR is in-
creased at higher temperatures due to decrease in mean flow
stress (Amit Kumar Gupta et al., 2012). Beyond 300 C as
the material is approaching the DSA region (Swadesh Kumar
Singh et al., 2010) there is no substantial increase in the draw-
ability of the material.
Fig. 5 shows the load applied by the punch over the blank
during deformation. Load naturally increases by increasing the
blank size. As it can be observed that by increasing the temper-
ature there is a decrease in punch load due to decrease in mean
flow stress (Amit Kumar Gupta et al., 2012). At room temper-
ature for 66 mm diameter blank, force needed to draw the
blank is higher than the force at elevated temperatures. Stres-
ses are higher due to wrinkling and subsequent drawing in a
very small region at the edge of the cup. At 150 C force by
the punch at corner was reduced and at 300 C the force in
the cup was further decreased and drawability is increased. Be-
yond 300 C the drawability of ASS316 is expected to decrease
due to the force to draw the blank is increased and this is be-
cause of the appearance of the DSA region (Swadesh Kumar
Singh et al., 2010).
Fig. 6 represents the stress train graph of the ASS316 at
various temperatures. It can be observed from the diagram
that when the temperature is 450 C, the strength of the mate-
rial (yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, k, n) is higher
Formability and fracture studies of austenitic stainless steel 316 at different temperatures
Table 3 DSA phenomena at different temperatures and strain
rates.
Temperature Strain rate
0.1 0.01 0.001 0.0001
Room temp (C) No No No No
150 No No No No
300 No No No Yes
450 No Yes Yes Yes
600 No No No Yes
than 300 C. This is because the DSA region appears in the
material at this temperature range (Amit Kumar Gupta
et al., 2012). The serrated flow behavior of the material in
the flow stress curve is one of the evident features of the
DSA phenomenon. It is attributed to the interaction of solute
atoms with moving dislocations and is generally observed
when the deformation temperature is high enough to permit
short range diffusion of solute atoms to dislocation cores. In
stainless steel DSA phenomena triggered because of the impu-
rities of Cr, Ni and dislocation multiplication due to variation
in temperature and strain rate (Mesarovic and Sinisa Dj
McCormickPG, 1995; Cottrell and Bilby, 1949). Linga Murty
and Chang-Sung Seok (2001) investigated this phenomenon
for steel. The extent of the DSA region depends upon the
amount of dislocation multiplication in the material on the
particular situation. (See Fig. 5)
Scanning electron micro graphs (SEM) are used to track lo-
cal material abnormalities that act as crack initiators. In the
present investigation the material was deep drawn at room
temperature, 150 C and 300 C. Beyond this temperature
there was a fracture in the drawn cup. So fractured test speci-
mens were cut to size and fractography was prepared at room
temperatures, of 150, 450 and 600 C. These images are pre-
sented in Figs. 7 and 8. Table 3 represents the regions where
DSA appears at a particular temperature and strain rate. From
Fig. 7 it can be seen that at lower temperatures more dimples,
small in size are visible which shows the mode of fracture to be
primarily ductile. At 450 C dimples are large and very few in
number also there is a lot of flat area in the micrograph which
represents the brittle fracture of cleavage type. It can also be
observed at 600 C that along with flat area the dimple size
has increased as compared with 150, 50 C. Although this tem-
perature is beyond the DSA region but still ductility is less as
compared to lower temperatures.
DSA phenomena can be observed in stress vs. strain dia-
gram when the test is conducted at a very low strain rate.
ASS316 has a very high amount of Ni and a certain amount
of Mo, caused the strain induced martensite formation in me-
tal forming operation. This can be observed through SEM
fractographs at 450 C, that when the strain rates are higher
a more flat area is seen in SEM images as shown in Fig. 8. That
was the possible cause of fracture of material during forming
operation at 450 C.
4. Conclusions
In this study, formability and fracture of austenitic stainless
steel 316 has been investigated experimentally and by SEM
189
fractography at different temperatures. Deep drawing process
was performed at room temperature, 150 C and 300 C. It
was found that as the temperature increases, LDR is increased
up to 300 C. From the SEM micrographs it can be observed
that at lower temperatures the mode of fracture is primarily
ductile. In the DSA region, the brittle fracture of cleavage type
is observed. Beyond the DSA region, ductility is decreased as
compared to lower temperatures.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge the financial support gi-
ven by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE),
Government of India, Research Promotional Scheme (RPS)
20/AICTE/RIFD/RPS(POLICY-III)99/2012-13.
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