Hole-expansion formability of dual-phase steels using representative volume element approach with boundary-smoothing technique

Dual-phase steels offer very attractive combinations of strength and ductility owing to the coexistence of different microstructures components and their interactions. These steels are suitable to the automotive industry due to their improved impact resistance increasing the passenger safety along with the vehicle weight reduction. The properties of the dual-phase steels are attributed to the chemical composition, type, size, amount and spatial distribution of different phases that can be obtained during thermomechanical treatments, namely, ferrite and martensite. In this work, the microstructure of as-received DP600 cold rolled steel sheet with 1.2 mm nominal thickness was firstly characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy technique. Then, a representative volume element was obtained from the DP600 microstructure and a micromechanical finite element model is proposed considering the steel chemical composition, average ferrite grain size, martensite volume fraction and mechanical properties of both ferrite and martensite phases. The uniaxial tension loading was simulated by assuming either plane-stress and plane-strain conditions. The numerical predictions corresponding to the plane-strain model are in good agreement with the experimental true stress-strain curve determined along the sheet rolling direction. The proposed finite element micromechanical approach based on the real microstructure proved to be an important tool to evaluate both local and overall behaviors of DP600 steel grade.

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Representative Volume Element for Mechanical Properties of Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposites Using Stochastic Finite Element Analysis

Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology ◽

10.1115/1.4045708 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Seyed Hamid Reza Sanei ◽

Randall Doles

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Finite Element ◽

Representative Volume Element ◽

Volume Element ◽

Length Scale ◽

Stochastic Finite Element ◽

Element Analysis ◽

Representative Volume ◽

Element Approach ◽

Stochastic Finite Element Analysis

Abstract The aim of this study is to present a representative volume element (RVE) for nanocomposites with different microstructural features using a stochastic finite element approach. To that end, computer-simulated microstructures of nanocomposites were generated to include a variety of uncertainty present in geometry, orientation, and distribution of carbon nanotubes. Microstructures were converted into finite element models based on an image-based approach for the determination of elastic properties. For each microstructure type, 50 realizations of synthetic microstructures were generated to capture the variability as well as the average values. Computer-simulated microstructures were generated at different length scales to determine the change in mechanical properties as a function of length scale. A representative volume element is defined at a length scale beyond which no change in variability is observed. The results show that there is no universal RVE applicable to all properties and microstructures; however, the RVE size is highly dependent on microstructural features. Microstructures with agglomeration tend to require larger RVE. Similarly, random microstructures require larger RVE when compared with aligned microstructures.

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