EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE TO

CARACTERIZE THE PLASTIC BEHAVIOUR OF

METALLIC MATERIALS IN A WIDE RANGE OF
TEMPERATURES AND STRAIN RATES:
APPLICATION TO A HIGH-CARBON STEEL

- Oscar Agudelo
- Danny Moyano

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this paper is the description and

application of a characterization procedure applied
to a high-carbon steel subjected to loadings at high
temperature and high strain rate.

MATERIAL
The material used in this study is a high-carbon steel
with industrial designations C68.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
During the incremental forming process, the steel is
heated by an induction system up to 720C.
During the test, the specimen was heated up to 850C
with a heating rate of 2C per minute.

Even if the maximum temperature (720C) is below the

phase transition temperature, it should be checked that
such heating does not affect the microstructure of the
material.

 HOW TO HEAT THE SAMPLE AND CONTROL

THE TEMPERATURE?.
Induction heating:
- It is the system commonly used in an industrial
incremental forming process to heat up parts.
-The sample is not enclosed in a chamber, thus
allowing the use of a camera.
-The system allows for a quick heating of the specimen

HOW TO DETERMINE THE DISPLACEMENT

FIELDS INDUCED BY A MECHANICAL LOADING AT
HIGH TEMPERATURE?
The accurate determination of displacement fields of the hot
surfaces of a specimen subjected to a thermo-mechanical stress
is one of the main problems to solve.
Combining an induction heating system with a high-speed
camera which allows the use of the DIC ( digital image
correlation) technique.
The main difficulty is the marking technique employed to follow
the surface displacement of the specimen.

MARKING TECHNIQUE
To determine strains representative of the behaviour of the part
and not of the pattern.
To get noise-free images .
To have a heterogeneous grey level distribution which allows to
determine a correlation factor in good condition at each point of
the virtual grid.

ELECTROCHEMICAL MARKING
This process involves a high resolution black stress free marking
on the specimen surface whatever type.
The marking is obtained in few seconds by oxydation (between
0,25 and 4 sec according to the oxidation level) with a
generator supplying low voltage electric current.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AT HIGH TEMPERATURE

The tensible test machine used is an INSTRON 5569 model.
A specimen with a uniform gauge length of 32,5 mm and width
of 10 mm was used for test.
The sheet material in tis study is 1,54 mm thick.
Digital images are acquired by a CMOS EoSENS CL
monochromatic high-speed camera coupled with a 24-88 mm
f / 2,8-4 Nikon objective.
Homogeneous and stable lighting of the sample surface is
required.

 Lighting system used is a CCS bar of LEDs, including 3 rows of

32 LEDs..
The electrochemical marking device, distributed by AGICOM,
includes the ME3000S generator from METALETCH equipped
with a graphite based marking head and a reservoir for the
electrolyte.
The filter selected in this study is a Schott KG-5, which allows
the passage of the full visible ligth spectrum.

DETERMINATION OF STRAIN AND STRESS

The digital image correlation technique consists in comparting
two digital images of the specimen surface at different states of
a test.

The incremental forming process in the case study imposes a

maximum strain of about 100%.
Just before fracture, for flat specimens, a local shear band is
usually formed on the necked surface of the specimen.

 Therefore, the bridgman correction can still be applied to correct

the true stress.

 Thanks to transverse strains determined from the surface

displacement obtained by DIC, the profile of the necked area
can be rebuilt as shown

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The most widely used method for high strain rate testing is the
Split Hopkinson bar system.

 A specific fixture for high strain rate test was designed to

connect the specimen to the bars.

INFLUENCE OF HIGH TEMPERATURE IN THE

HOPKINSON BARS
The power of the induction heating system used for these test is
about 5kW.
The specimen and the fixture are glued by using Araldite which
can resist temperatures up to 120C.
The results show that the temperature in this section is above
120C, which is the limit temperature of the glue.

TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY
Quasi-static tensile tests were performed at five temperatures,
the temperature sensitivity at a constant strain rate of 10^1 /s:
175 C, 350 C, 450 C, 550 C and 720 C.

 A negative temperature sensitivity can be noticed

between 175 C and 350 C

 Dynamic tensile tests were carried out at five different

temperatures, at a strain rate equal to 410^2 /s : 250 C,
400 C,500 C, 600 C and 720 C.

 Up to 400 C, the temperature sensitivity, the flow stress

decreases with temperature.