Publications
135 results found
Jiang S, Yardley VA, Li N, et al., 2022, Revealing the Geometrically Necessary Dislocation Density Evolution during Hot Compression of AA7050, 7th International Conference on Materials Science & Smart Materials “MSSM2021”, Publisher: Trans Tech Publications, Ltd., Pages: 109-116
<jats:p>Dislocations play a critical role in metal forming processes, and accurate values of dislocation density are important in modelling these processes. However, direct determination of the dislocation density is challenging. In this study, electron backscatter diffraction is used to estimate the evolution of geometrically necessary dislocation density as a function of plastic strain, strain rate and temperature in hot compression of AA7050 alloy. The geometrically necessary dislocation density was found to increase at a higher strain rate and lower temperature; the higher dislocation density in these samples promoted continuous dynamic recrystallisation leading to grain refinement. At lower strain rates and higher temperatures, the dislocation densities were lower and dislocations formed into walls, channels and cells. These observations agree with accepted theories of dislocation evolution and demonstrate the capability of electron backscatter diffraction to provide representative dislocation density values as well as comprehensive information linking plastic flow with microstructural evolution.Keywords: electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs), hot deformation, AA7050</jats:p>
Zhou W, Shi Z, Lin J, et al., 2022, An upper bound solution for deformation field analysis in differential velocity sideways extrusion using a unified stream function, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Vol: 224, Pages: 107323-107323, ISSN: 0020-7403
Liu S, Xia Y, Liu Y, et al., 2022, Tool path planning of consecutive free-form sheet metal stamping with deep learning, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol: 303, Pages: 117530-117530, ISSN: 0924-0136
Sheet metal forming technologies, such as stamping and deep drawing, have been widely used in automotive, rail and aerospace industries for lightweight metal component manufacture. It requires specially customised presses and dies, which are very costly, particularly for low volume production of extra-large engineering panel components. In this paper, a novel recursive tool path prediction framework, impregnated with a deep learning model, is developed and instantiated for the forming sequence planning of a consecutive rubber-tool forming process. The deep learning model recursively predicts the forming parameters, namely punch location and punch stroke, for each deformation step, which yields the optimal tool path. Three series of deep learning models, namely single feature extractor, cascaded networks (including state-of-the-art deep networks) and long short-term memory (LSTM) models are implemented and trained with two datasets with different amounts of data but the same data diversity. The learning results show that the single LSTM model trained with the larger dataset has the most superior learning capability and generalisation among all models investigated. The promising results from the LSTM indicate the potential of extending the proposed recursive tool path prediction framework to the tool path planning of more complex sheet metal components. The analysis on different deep networks provides instructive references for model selection and model architecture design for sheet metal forming problems involving tool path design
Zhang R, Shi Z, Yardley VA, et al., 2022, Experimental studies of necking and fracture limits of boron steel sheet under hot stamping conditions, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol: 302, ISSN: 0924-0136
Boron steel is the most widely used material in hot stamping applications for forming automotive body panels with complex shapes and ultra-high strength. Due to the high austenitic transformation temperatures and the complex thermal cycle required for hot stamping, however, it is difficult to evaluate the formability of the material using standard punch test methods developed for room-temperature testing. In this study, a high-temperature modification of a recently developed biaxial test method has been used to determine, in a single test procedure and for the first time, forming limit curves (FLCs) and fracture forming limit curves (FFLCs) for 22MnB5 boron steel sheet with a thickness of 1.5 mm under thermal conditions that are representative of industrial hot stamping processes. A direct resistance heating strategy has been developed, and a recently proposed cruciform specimen design has been modified for high-temperature use. For tests with target temperatures in the range of 750 to 925 °C, the resulting test specimens had the highest temperature at the specimen centre and a temperature difference of less than 45 °C in the gauge area and fracture occurred close to the centre of this area under all test conditions investigated. Limit strains at the onset of necking and at fracture for the material have been determined by applying digital image correlation (DIC) to obtain full-field strain measurements, providing an experimental foundation for constructing both FLCs and FFLCs for industrial applications.
Li Y, Shi Z, 2022, A New Method to Characterize and Model Stress-Relaxation Aging Behavior of Aluminum Alloys Under Age Forming Conditions, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol: 53, Pages: 1345-1360, ISSN: 1073-5623
Li Y, Shi Z, Lü F, et al., 2022, Mechanism and Modelling Studies of Elastic-plastic Stress Relaxation of Aluminium Alloys Based on Thermally Activated Plastic Theories, Jixie Gongcheng Xuebao/Journal of Mechanical Engineering, Vol: 58, Pages: 42-51, ISSN: 0577-6686
Aiming at the inconsistent of mechanisms and insufficient prediction models for stress relaxation of aluiminium alloys in elastic and plastic regions, a method that utilises thermally activated plastic deformation theories for mechanism characterisation and modelling during stress relaxation ageing (SRA) process in both elastic and plastic regions is proposed. The apparent activation volumes obtained from the theories for AA7B04 and AA6082 alloys indicate a dislocation-obstacles interaction mechanism for stress relation in both elastic and plastic regions. The stress relaxation behaviour in elastic region is found to be mainly affected by the effective stress, while the more significant stress relaxation in plastic region has been attributed to the combined effect of increasing effective stresses and decreasing apparent activation energies, which have been quantified by the theories in this study. Based on these theoretical analysis results, a simple constitutive model considering the changing apparent energies has been proposed, providing an effective way to successfully predict the different stress relaxation behaviour of aluminium alloys under various stress levels in the elastic-plastic deformation range for potential CAF process applications. The proposed method overcomes limitations of the conventional creep stress exponent analysis method for SRA behaviour analysis, and provides abundant information (i.e. stress components, apparent activation volumes and energies) to support the characterization of deformation mechanisms in SRA and enable accurate prediction of different SRA behaviour in elastic and plastic regions.
Wang X, Rong Q, Shi Z, et al., 2022, Investigation of stress effect on creep, precipitation and dislocation evolution of Al–Li alloy during creep age forming, Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol: 836, ISSN: 0921-5093
The 3rd generation Al–Li alloy is a good candidate for large panel fabrication adopting creep age forming (CAF) because of its balanced synergy of high strength, good toughness, corrosion resistance and light weight. In this study, the creep-ageing behaviour of a 2xxx series 3rd generation Al–Li alloy in T8 state has been experimentally investigated under different stresses ranging from 300 to 430 MPa at 143 °C for up to 20 h. The corresponding evolution of precipitate size, its distribution and dislocation density during CAF has been analysed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) tests. With the increase of the applied stress, the dominant deformation mechanism transformed from diffusion creep to dislocation creep at around 400 MPa, with corresponding stress exponent n = 2.9 in the former and n = 8.4 in the latter. A strong stress dependent characteristic has been observed in creep deformation and evolutions of dislocation density and precipitate size during creep-ageing. The creep strain increased dramatically above 400 MPa and the accumulated creep strain at 430 MPa was 7 times higher than that at 400 MPa after 20 h creep-ageing. Much higher dislocation density was observed at the applied stress above 400 MPa according to XRD measurements, which accelerates the precipitation kinetics. It was also found that the dominance of T1 over θ′ precipitates increased with applied stress and ageing time during creep-ageing at 143 °C.
Zhou W, Shi Z, Rong Q, et al., 2022, Experimental and numerical investigations on buckling behaviour of stiffened panel during creep age forming, Thin-Walled Structures, Vol: 172, Pages: 108940-108940, ISSN: 0263-8231
Zhang R, Shi Z, Shao Z, et al., 2021, Biaxial test method for determination of FLCs and FFLCs for sheet metals: validation against standard Nakajima method, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Vol: 209, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 0020-7403
Recently, a biaxial test method comprising a cruciform specimen design and spatio-temporal method to determine the limit strains has been proposed for the determination of forming limit curves (FLCs) and fracture forming limit curves (FFLCs) for sheet metals. However, this test method has not yet been validated against the existing standard methods. In the present work, this biaxial test method has been applied to the aluminium alloy AA5754 for formability evaluation at room temperature and results from the biaxial test method have been compared with those from the standard Nakajima method. Theoretical analysis has been carried out to compare equi-biaxial tension cases for the two methods; a similar variation of thickness strain with radial distance normalised by the radius of the gauge area is found between the two methods. In the biaxial tests, decreasing the radius of the through-thickness dome profile, with which the gauge area is thinned, leads to fracture nearer the specimen centre but produces a less uniform strain distribution. Importantly, the major strains at necking on the FLC, as determined using the biaxial and the standard test methods, are almost the same in the plane-strain state, while in other strain states, the major strains are slightly lower for the biaxial method than that for the Nakajima method. An FFLC for AA5754 has also been determined using the biaxial test method, in which the major strain at fracture decreases with increasing strain ratio β from −0.5 to 0, while it changes only slightly when β > 0.
Tong C, Zhu G, Rong Q, et al., 2021, Investigation of austenitising behaviour of medium-Mn steel in the hot-stamping heating process, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol: 297, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 0924-0136
In this study, the austenite transformation behaviour in a medium-Mn (MMn) steel is investigated during heat treatments that replicate those occurring in low-temperature hot stamping (LTHS), with the aim of better understanding this behaviour to optimise heat-treatment design. The austenitisation behaviour and critical phase transformation temperatures during the LTHS heating process and their dependence on heating conditions are investigated using dilatometry with a Gleeble 3800 thermal-mechanical simulator, covering heating rates of 1–25 °C s−1 and soaking temperatures of 630–900 °C. Both a higher heating rate and higher soaking temperature are found to be beneficial to shorten the time required for obtaining a given austenite fraction. The martensite start temperature (Ms) shows a rapid increase with increasing soaking temperatures when austenitisation is partial, and a slower increase after full austenitisation. Excellent ultimate tensile strength values of around 1750 MPa and total elongation values of around 9.3 % are obtained for the material after the LTHS heating process. A physically based model describing the austenitic transformation under these conditions has been adopted and calibrated. The model shows good agreement with austenitic transformation diagrams constructed from experimental data, and thus can function as a guide for selecting optimum heat-treatment parameters for LTHS.
Lu X, Yu J, Yardley VA, et al., 2021, Solid-state welding and microstructural features of an aluminium alloy subjected to a novel two-billet differential velocity sideways extrusion process, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol: 296, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 0924-0136
A novel process for fabricating cross-sectional shapes of curved profiles in industrial applications, two-billet differential velocity sideways extrusion (DVSE), is proposed in this study. The feasibility of the process is demonstrated by fabricating solid bars of the aluminium alloy AA1070 through the solid-state welding of two billets at elevated temperature. Microstructural examination has shown that the weld formed between the two billets consists of an unsound area in the dead metal zone within the die and a sound bonding area in the welding zone. Along the welding path, the effective and normal strains gradually increase while the shear strain decreases, leading to the transformation of grains from equiaxed to bamboo-like structures and increases in the hardness, average grain size, and fraction of low angle grain boundaries. The shear strength of the welded extrudate is larger than that of the material without welding. The effective strain in the welding zone is larger than that in other zones. Increasing the temperature or speed of extrusion decreases the unsound bonding area length and the shearing angle, thus improving the uniformity of distribution of the shear strain. The grain diameter is refined from ∼500 μm in the initial billet to ∼47 μm in the welding zone of the extrudate formed at 0.05 mm/s and 450 ℃. The hardness of the extrudate formed at 400 °C and 0.1 mm/s is ∼19 % larger than that of the initial billet, and is decreased by decreasing the extrusion speed or increasing the temperature.
Rong Q, Shi Z, Li Y, et al., 2021, Constitutive modelling and its application to stress-relaxation age forming of AA6082 with elastic and plastic loadings, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol: 295, Pages: 1-12, ISSN: 0924-0136
A novel constitutive model has been proposed in this study that predicts the different stress-relaxation ageing (SRA) behaviour of AA6082-T6 with elastic and plastic loading strains, extending the applications of stress-relaxation age forming (SRAF) from conventional elastically loaded panels to complex-shaped panels under plastically loaded conditions. The particular contributions of loading strain levels in elastic or plastic regions on the evolution of microstructural variables (i.e., inter-particle spacing, dislocation density, and precipitate length), yield strength and stress-relaxation behaviour during SRA process are concurrently modelled. The decreasing creep threshold stress and the increasing dislocation recovery effect from annealing with increasing initial strain in the plastic region have been proposed and introduced in the model. TEM analysis has been performed to quantify the effect of loading strain and ageing time on the evolution of β″ precipitates, and further calibrate the material model. Furthermore, the established model has been implemented into FE simulation to optimise the tool surface design of a train body panel component with complex and large curvatures, and corresponding SRAF tests have been conducted with the optimised tool surface. The maximum shape deviation from the objective shape of a component with a dimension of 820*300*3 mm3 has been controlled within 3 mm, demonstrating the feasibility of the developed material model for SRAF in industrial applications, especially for highly demanded complex-shaped components.
Zhou W, Shi Z, Li Y, et al., 2021, Elastic-plastic buckling analysis of stiffened panel subjected to global bending in forming process, Aerospace Science and Technology, Vol: 115, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 1270-9638
A new method has been proposed in this study for the elastic-plastic buckling analysis of stiffened panels under global bending. In this method, a simplified model of the stiffened panels has been built with the application of two theories of plasticity, the incremental theory (IT) and the deformation theory (DT). The effect of transverse shear deformation through the stiffener thickness has been considered using the Mindlin-Reissner plate theory. The governing differential equations have been solved by the differential quadrature (DQ) method and an iteration process has been adopted due to the non-linearity of material properties in the elastic-plastic buckling analysis. Non-linear finite element (FE) modelling of elastic-plastic buckling analysis has been carried out, and the FE results are between those based on DT and IT in general. When the reciprocal of strain hardening exponent increases to 20, the FE results are in a good agreement with DT results. Based on the proposed method and FE simulations, the effect of geometric parameters of stiffened panels (stiffener thickness to height ratio, stiffened panel length to height ratio, width to height ratio, and skin thickness to stiffener thickness ratio) on buckling behaviour in the elastic-plastic region has been investigated and discussed. The proposed method provides an efficient way for parameter optimisation in the structure design of stiffened panels for the aerospace applications.
Altıparmak SC, Yardley VA, Shi Z, et al., 2021, Challenges in additive manufacturing of high-strength aluminium alloys and current developments in hybrid additive manufacturing, International Journal of Lightweight Materials and Manufacture, Vol: 4, Pages: 246-261, ISSN: 2588-8404
Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes, also known as 3D printing, enable geometrically complex parts to be produced layer by layer on the basis of three-dimensional (3D) data generated either by scanning physical objects or using design software. Compared to conventional manufacturing processes, AM offers the elimination of production steps, allowing rapid and relatively easy prototyping of physical objects from 3D model designs, and reproduction of existing objects. Over the last two decades, AM processes have become widespread for the manufacturing of complex-shaped components in numerous industrial sectors, one of their main areas of application being in the aerospace industry. This sector makes extensive use of high-strength aluminium alloys because of their high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios and excellent machinability. However, the applicability of AM processes to high-strength aluminium alloys is still limited by the presence of several types of non-negligible issues and defects in additively manufactured (AMed) aluminium components. Over the years, significant research efforts have been directed at minimising or eliminating these defects and thereby expanding the range of applications of AM in high-strength aluminium alloys. This paper reviews the state of the art in AM of high-strength aluminium alloys for aerospace. The focus is on defects and issues in AMed 2xxx and 7xxx series alloys and recent developments in novel hybrid AM processes to minimise or eliminate the defects.
Chung T-F, Yang Y-L, Tai C-L, et al., 2021, HR-STEM investigation of atomic lattice defects in different types of η precipitates in creep-age forming Al-Zn-Mg-Cu aluminium alloy, Materials Science and Engineering: A, Vol: 815, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 0921-5093
High-resolution (HR) high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) hasrevealed the atomic lattice defects in different types of η precipitates in the Al–Zn–Mg–Cu aluminium alloy subjectedto creep-age forming treatment (with a constant stress lower than its room-temperature yield strength duringageing). Along the zone axes of [110]Al//[2110]η of η1 and η12, [112]Al//[2110]η of η2 and [100]Al//[2110]η ofη13, atomic projections of (2110)η have been investigated. In those types of η, elongated hexagonal lattice defects(labelled as Type I defects) can be found; they are apparently related to local disorder in atomic stackings.Furthermore, in η12, elongated hexagonal lattice defects with a much higher aspect ratio (labelled as Type II defects)are uniquely observed. These atomic lattice defects are presumably pertinent to the lattice accommodation in thecourse of creep-age forming. Additionally, in η1 and η12, the features of a Penrose tiling defect connecting with TypeI defects are observed, and these complex defects obviously affect the growth direction of the precipitate, resulting ina nearly spherical morphology. Alternatively, several entirely-passed faulted layers in a new type of precipitate, η14,consequently bring about a new orientation relationship: (513)Al//(0001)η14 and [112]Al//[2110]η14. Moreover, inan atomic STEM image of η14, the significant Z-contrast gradient adjacent to the transformation front of η14 elucidates the Zn/Cu diffusion from the matrix to the precipitate along {111}Al planes at the interface.
Fang M, Han Y, Shi Z, et al., 2021, Embedding boron into Ti powder for direct laser deposited titanium matrix composite: microstructure evolution and the role of nano-TiB network structure, Composites Part B: Engineering, Vol: 211, ISSN: 0961-9526
The titanium powder embedded with 2.5 vol% TiB was in-situ fabricated by gas atomization and applied for direct laser deposited (DLD) titanium matrix composites. Consistent with the network distributed boron-rich zone in composite powder, a three-dimensional (3D) in-situ ultrafine network structure, consisting of nano-TiB whiskers (TiBw), was characterized throughout the as-fabricated composite (DLDed TiB–Ti). Both the dendritic and equiaxed network, attributed to the boron-induced constitutional supercooling and subsequent nucleation and growth of primary β-Ti, existed in the composite. The addition of boron (B) had a positive effect on the equiaxial transition and grain refinement of both primary β-Ti grains and α grains. Tensile tests showed an enhancement of strength compared with conventionally fabricated homogeneous TiB–Ti composites and selective laser melted CP-Ti. Analyzing the strength mechanism of the DLDed TiB–Ti, apart from the fine-grain strengthening and load-bearing effect of TiBw, the TiB network was found to have an additional contribution to the improvement of strength. Fracture morphology and in situ tensile observation showed the role of network structure in plastic deformation limitation, crack deflection and blunting, which was mainly attributed to the ultrafine cell size and revealed the significance of network structure.
Liu S, Xia Y, Shi Z, et al., 2021, Deep learning in sheet metal bending with a novel theory-guided deep neural network, IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica, Vol: 8, Pages: 565-581, ISSN: 2329-9266
Sheet metal forming technologies have been intensively studied for decades to meet the increasing demand for lightweight metal components. To surmount the springback occurring in sheet metal forming processes, numerous studies have been performed to develop compensation methods. However, for most existing methods, the development cycle is still considerably time-consumptive and demands high computational or capital cost. In this paper, a novel theory-guided regularization method for training of deep neural networks (DNNs), implanted in a learning system, is introduced to learn the intrinsic relationship between the workpiece shape after springback and the required process parameter, e.g., loading stroke, in sheet metal bending processes. By directly bridging the workpiece shape to the process parameter, issues concerning springback in the process design would be circumvented. The novel regularization method utilizes the well-recognized theories in material mechanics, Swift's law, by penalizing divergence from this law throughout the network training process. The regularization is implemented by a multi-task learning network architecture, with the learning of extra tasks regularized during training. The stress-strain curve describing the material properties and the prior knowledge used to guide learning are stored in the database and the knowledge base, respectively. One can obtain the predicted loading stroke for a new workpiece shape by importing the target geometry through the user interface. In this research, the neural models were found to outperform a traditional machine learning model, support vector regression model, in experiments with different amount of training data. Through a series of studies with varying conditions of training data structure and amount, workpiece material and applied bending processes, the theory-guided DNN has been shown to achieve superior generalization and learning consistency than the data-driven DNNs, especially when only scarce
Zhang R, Shao Z, Shi Z, et al., 2021, Effect of cruciform specimen design on strain paths and fracture location in equi-biaxial tension, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol: 289, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 0924-0136
Hot stamping technologies require new methods for evaluating formability of sheet metal under various forming conditions. Biaxial tensile testing method using a cruciform specimen has been used for the applications, but a suitable cruciform specimen design has not yet been accepted. One of the challenges in designing a specimen for formability tests is to ensure proportional equi-biaxial strain paths arise at the location of fracture initiation. In this study, after reviewing existing cruciform specimen designs, three different geometries of cruciform specimen, named Type I, Type II and Type III, were proposed. Using numerical analysis and practical experiments, fracture initiation locations and corresponding strain paths in the specimens were investigated under equi-biaxial tension. Numerical simulations were performed to optimise the dimensions of Type I specimen to achieve a relatively high strain level near the centre point of the specimen. Based on the optimised dimensions, equi-biaxial tensile tests were carried out on cruciform specimens with different geometries, and strain paths at the fracture initiation locations were compared and analysed. It was found that in all cruciform specimens, equi-biaxial strain state appears only near the centre point. In the Type I and Type II specimens, fracture never initiates near the centre point, but at a location in the fillet transition zone where major strain is higher than that at the centre point. The Type III specimens have the ability to initiate fracture near the centre point, and to produce proportional strain paths with strain ratio β close to 1 in equi-biaxial tension, 0 in plane-strain tension, and -0.5 in uniaxial tension at the locations of fracture initiation. The research provides a cruciform specimen design, Type III, which has high potential to be used for evaluating formability for sheet metal.
Wang X, Li Y, Chen B, et al., 2021, Development and trend of unified mechanism-based materials modelling for creep age forming of aluminium alloys, 10th EASN 2020, Publisher: IOP Publishing, ISSN: 1757-8981
Materials modelling plays an important role for sprinback compensation and tool surface design in creep age forming (CAF). This review aims to provide perspective on the development and trend of materials modelling for CAF of aluminium alloys. Recently proposed unified constitutive equations for creep-ageing behaviour of aluminium alloys during CAF by integrating microstructural evolution and hardening effects are reviewed. The modelling methods and developing trend to quantitively reflect the relationship between the microstructural evolutions and macro creep-ageing behaviour of materials during CAF are discussed.
Zhang R, Shi Z, Shao Z, et al., 2021, An effective method for determining necking and fracture strains of sheet metals, MethodsX, Vol: 8, ISSN: 2215-0161
Biaxial tensile testing methods using cruciform specimens have been developed in the last few decades for the determination of forming limit diagrams (FLDs) and fracture forming limit diagrams (FFLDs) for sheet metals. One of the difficulties associated with this test geometry is the lack of a widely accepted method to determine the necking and fracture strains which are necessary to construct these diagrams. In this study, a novel spatio-temporal method has been proposed for the determination of necking and fracture strains. In the method, two rectangular zones: the base zone (BZ) and the reference zone (RZ) are selected at the location where fracture initiates. The zone RZ includes the zone BZ and both zones have the same side length in the direction parallel to the necking band but different side length in the perpendicular direction. By plotting the thickness reduction within RZ against that in BZ, the onset of localised necking can be determined by finding the intersection of the two straight lines fitted separately using the data in the initial and final stages of deformation. The corresponding limit strains are then determined using the strains within the zone BZ. The method has been successfully applied to uniaxial tensile tests on AA6082 and boron steel dog-bone specimens, and to equi-biaxial tensile tests on AA5754 cruciform specimens.
Li Y, Lyu F, Shi Z, et al., 2021, Experimental study and modelling of stress relaxation ageing behaviour and post-form mechanical properties in creep age forming of Al-Zn-Mg alloy, 13th International Conference on the Technology of Plasticity (ICTP 2021), Publisher: Springer, Pages: 877-889, ISSN: 2367-1181
The stress relaxation ageing behaviour and post-form mechanical properties of an Al-Zn-Mg alloy, AA7B04, have been experimentally investigated and modelled. The stress relaxation ageing tests were carried out under different initial stress levels and durations at 165 °C and subsequent tensile tests were performed at room temperature. The detailed effects of stress and time on stress relaxation and main post-form mechanical properties (yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and uniform elongation) have been analysed and discussed. Based on the results and analysis, a set of unified constitutive equations has been developed for the first time to simultaneously predict stress relaxation ageing behaviour of the aluminium alloy during the creep age forming (CAF) process and the main mechanical properties of the products after CAF. The model comprises three sub-models, including microstructure, stress relaxation ageing and post-form mechanical properties, and has successfully predicted corresponding behaviour. The developed model provides an effective tool to not only predict the forming process but also support possible industrial applications for CAF products.
Zhang R, Shi Z, Shao Z, et al., 2021, A novel spatio-temporal method for determining necking and fracture strains of sheet metals, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Vol: 189, ISSN: 0020-7403
Forming limit diagrams (FLDs) and fracture forming limit diagrams (FFLDs) have been widely used to evaluate formability of sheet metals. There are many existing methods for determining localised necking strain and fracture strain necessary to construct these diagrams, however, none has been widely accepted and applied to the range of available formability testing methods, e.g. Nakajima tests and biaxial tensile tests. In this study, a novel spatio-temporal method is proposed and developed for determining the localised necking strain and the fracture strain in deformed sheet metals. In the method, localised necking is assumed to appear at the beginning of an increasing difference between average thickness strain within two rectangular zones where localised necking occurs. The effects of dimensions of the two zones on determined localised necking strains were investigated using uniaxial tensile tests for three sheet metals: AA7075, boron steel and AA6082, and the optimal dimensions are recommended to ensure accurate determinations. In comparison with several widely used existing methods, it was concluded that the novel method has greater simplicity, stability and accuracy in determining the localised necking strains. The method was also successfully applied to determine the localised necking strain and the fracture strain for AA5754 in biaxial tensile tests and it was demonstrated to be unaffected by noise and the Portevin–Le Châtelier (PLC) effect.
Rong Q, Shi Z, Li Y, et al., 2021, Stress-relaxation age forming of a component with complex and large curvatures: simulation and manufacturing, 13th International Conference on the Technology of Plasticity (ICTP 2021), Publisher: Springer, Pages: 921-934, ISSN: 2367-1181
Stress-relaxation age forming (SRAF) of a component (820 × 300 × 3 mm3 ) with complex and large curvatures has been simulated and a corresponding SRAF test of an Al–Mg–Si alloy, AA6082-T6, has been carried out in this study. An FE model is established to simulate the stress-relaxation ageing (SRA) behaviour of AA6082-T6 during SRAF at various stress levels, ranging from elastic to plastic regions, and a unified constitutive model for SRA of the material has been implemented in the finite element (FE) software ABAQUS via the user-defined subroutine CREEP. An optimised tool surface was determined from the FE simulation through springback predication and compensation and was used for manufacturing test. A good agreement of the formed shape has been achieved between the FE simulation and the SRAF test, with a maximum shape error below 4 mm, satisfying the industrial requirement. The hardness results from the formed plate showed an insignificant change of strength during SRAF, and are in good agreement with the simulation. The effects of the initial plastic strain and creep strain generated during loading and stress-relaxation stages on the formed shape have also been analysed.
Chantzis D, Liu X, Politis DJ, et al., 2021, Design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) of hot stamping dies with improved cooling performance under cyclic loading conditions, Additive Manufacturing, Vol: 37, Pages: 101720-101720, ISSN: 2214-8604
Zhao H, Xi J, Zheng K, et al., 2020, A review on solid riveting techniques in aircraft assembling, Manufacturing Review, Vol: 7, Pages: 1-18, ISSN: 2265-4224
Solid riveting is the most widely used joining technique in aircraft assembly, and the current key problems affecting practical application and reliable lifting are concentrated on static strength and fatigue. This paper aims to present a practical review on current practice and novel techniques of solid riveting for aircraft applications in order to obtain a thorough understanding of the underlying mechanisms of defect development to assist industrial users to find pragmatic solutions for safe life extension of components. At first, the current status of solid riveting processes is reviewed, and the key influencing factors on static/fatigue failure of riveted joints are identified. Effects of solid riveting design parameters, manufacturing parameters, residual stress, load transfer and secondary bending on static and fatigue strengths of riveted lap joints are discussed, followed by a review of the state-of-the-art solutions that deal with static/fatigue failures. Furthermore the new development in solid riveting techniques, including the use of different materials and riveting processes, is addressed. Finally, future research perspective and applications industrial riveting is presented.
Tong C, Rong Q, Yardley V, et al., 2020, New developments and future trends in low-temperature hot stamping technologies: a review, Metals, Vol: 10, ISSN: 2075-4701
Improvement of the hot stamping process is important for reducing processing costs and improving the productivity and tensile properties of final components. One major approach to this has been to conduct all or part of the process at lower temperatures. The present paper reviews the state of the art of hot stamping techniques and their applications, considering the following aspects: (1) conventional hot stamping and its advanced developments; (2) warm stamping approaches in which complete austenitisation is not attained during heating; (3) hot stamping with a lower forming temperature, i.e., low-temperature hot stamping (LTHS); (4) advanced medium-Mn steels with lower austenitisation temperatures and their applicability in LTHS. Prospects for the further development of LTHS technology and the work required to achieve this are discussed.
Lv J, Zheng J, Yardley VA, et al., 2020, A review of microstructural evolution and modelling of aluminium alloys under hot forming conditions, Metals, Vol: 10, ISSN: 2075-4701
Microstructural evolution during hot forming of aluminium alloys plays a critical role in both the material flow behaviour during the deformation and the post-form mechanical properties in service. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the recrystallisation mechanisms, the interrelations between microstructures and macroscopic responses, and the associated modelling methods for aluminium alloys under hot forming conditions. Particular attention is focused on dynamic recrystallisation (DRX), which occurs during hot forming. The mechanisms, key features, and conditions of occurrence (forming temperature, strain rates, etc.) during hot forming for each type of DRX type are classified. The relationships between microstructures and macroscopic responses, including the flow behaviour, the post-form strength and ductility, are summarised based on existing experimental results. Most importantly, the associated modelling work, describing the recrystallisation and the viscoplastic behaviour under hot forming conditions, is grouped into four types, to enable a clear and concise understanding of the existing quantitative micro–macro interactions, which are particularly valuable for the future development of advanced physically based multi-scale modelling work for hot-forming processes in aluminium alloys.
Zhang R, Lin J, Shi Z, et al., 2020, A new technique for characterising mechanical properties of materials under hot stamping conditions, Publisher: IOP Publishing, Pages: 012081-012081, ISSN: 1757-8981
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In order to characterise mechanical properties of materials (e.g. formability) under hot stamping conditions, significant efforts have been made to the development of the biaxial tensile testing method using cruciform specimens. However, no method for necking strain determination and no cruciform specimen design have been widely accepted. In this study, a new technique for characterising mechanical behaviour of materials under hot stamping conditions has been proposed. It includes two main parts: 1) a novel spatio-temporal method for determining necking and fracture strains, and 2) a cruciform specimen design for formability evaluation using biaxial testing method. In the first part, the theoretical base of the novel spatio-temporal method has been discussed, and the method has been validated by applying to uniaxial tensile tests on AA6082 specimens. The method has also been compared with several existing popular methods, in the determination of limit strain at onset of localised necking. It is found that the novel method has greater simplicity, stability and accuracy for the determination of localised necking strain. In the second part, a proposed cruciform specimen of AA5754 has been tested under the equi-biaxial tension, and both the necking initiation location and the strain path at the location where necking initiates, have been analysed. Furthermore, the novel spatio-temporal method has been applied to the biaxial tensile test for the determination of necking and fracture strains. The results show that the designed cruciform specimen enables to initiate fracture at the centre of the specimen and realisation of linear strain path under equi-biaxial tension.</jats:p>
Li Y, Gu B, Jiang S, et al., 2020, A CDRX-based material model for hot deformation of aluminium alloys, International Journal of Plasticity, Vol: 134, Pages: 1-17, ISSN: 0749-6419
During hot deformation, continuous dynamic recrystallisation (CDRX) is believed to occur, and even dominates microstructural evolution in many metallic materials with high stacking fault energy, such as aluminium alloys. A unique material model for hot deformation of aluminium alloys is proposed in this paper, based on consideration of two processes: (i) increase of dislocation density, induced by plastic deformation, leading to generation, rotation and migration of low angle grain boundaries (LABs) and their transformation into high angle grain boundaries (HABs); (ii) migration of HABs leading to annihilation of both LABs and HABs. At large strain, the above counteracting processes, guided by different mechanisms, lead to saturation of HABs fraction. The model is applied to hot deformation of AA5052 and AA7050 alloys under various temperatures and strain rates, and calculated flow stress, HABs fraction and grain size evolution for both alloys agree well with the corresponding experimental data. The capability of predicting saturation of HABs fraction and average subgrain misorientation angle of both alloys under large strains demonstrate the potential applicability of the model to a wide range of hot forming process conditions.
Li C, Blackman BRK, Shi Z, 2020, Surface pre-treatment methods for composites prior to adhesive bonding, Fiber Composites, Vol: 2020, Pages: 109-122, ISSN: 1003-6423
An automotive or aircraft component requires the inclusion of some light-weight high-performance materials, e.g. carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP), a.luminium alloy, titanium alloy. Adhesive bonding, as a satisfactory technique for joining two materials, has attracted more and more attentions from researchers and manufacturers. Unlike welding, bolling, or riveting techniques. adhesive bonding docs not destroy the bulk struct11re and prevents galvanic corrosion in tenns of hybrid joining. Prior lo adhesive bonding, surface pre-treatments are necessary. For example, the surface of CFRPs is usually not active. Also. contaminants may affect the joint performance after adhesive bonding. Surface pre-treatments for CFRPs aim to remove any surface contaminants and also to modify the surface. They optimise surface topography and/or chemical composition to obtain a closer interaction with adhesives, i.e. mechanical interlocking and chemical bonding. In this report, surface pre-treatment methods for composites prior to adhesive bonding will be introduced, including solvent cleaning, chemical treatment, abrasion, peel-ply method. plasma treatment. and laser ablation. Relevant studies will be reviewed and summarized. The effectiveness. compatibility, economy, and enviromnental concerns of these methods will be analysed and compared. This report will also provide suggestions for further research and development of the methods, based on both findings of the research papers and the applications in the industrial production.
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