Influence of strain path on nucleation and growth of voids in dual phase steel sheets

The objectives of this work are to describe the nucleation and growth of voids in DP600 dual phase steel sheets formed along different strain paths, and to investigate the correlation between the micro-mechanisms of damage and the forming limits. DP600 sheet specimens were stretch-formed in uniaxial, plane strain and biaxial tension using the Marciniak–Kuczynski formability test. The evolution of damage in the microstructure was correlated to the formability in each strain path by quantitatively analyzing void density, void area fraction, void aspect ratio and mean void size. Results showed that DP600 steel sheets have less formability in plane strain compared to uniaxial and biaxial tension due to the more rapid elongation and growth of voids. Moreover, the sheets safely deformed to much greater effective strains in biaxial tension due to the smaller mean void size and slower void growth. As proposed by Gurson Gurson (1977) , Tvergaard and Needleman Tvergaard and Needleman (1984) , void volume fraction is an important damage parameter. However, this work shows that void aspect ratio and mean void size also significantly influence the evolution of damage and the formability of dual phase steels. Keywords: Dual phase steel, Microstructure, Strain path, Voids, Forming limit curve