In this study the mechanical properties of ferritic stainless steel EN 1.4521 (AISI 444) were characterized in uniaxial tension and simple shear. The specimen geometries were designed so that tests could be carried out both with a conventional uniaxial materials testing machine and at high strain rates with the Tensile Hopkinson Split Bar method. During the tests, specimen surface deformation was measured using a three dimensional digital image correlation technique based on a two-camera stereovision setup. This technique allowed direct measurement of the specimen gauge section deformation during the test. Test results indicate that the selected approach is suitable for large strain plastic deformation characterization of ductile metals. The stress-strain data obtained from the simple shear tests shows a correlation with the tensile test results according to the von Mises effective stress-strain criterion. Since necking is absent in shear, test data can be obtained at considerably higher plastic strains than in tension. However, the final fracture occurs under a complex loading mode due to the distortion of the specimen geometry and multiaxial loading introduced by the simple shear arrangement. Test results also show that reliable material data can be obtained at high strain rates.
Inverse methods for the mechanical characterization of materials at high strain rates
