Numerical Analysis of Edge Cracking in High-Silicon Steel during Cold Rolling with 3D Fracture Locus

In this study, a 3D fracture locus of high-silicon steel strip was constructed through a series of fracture tests with specimens of various shapes and corresponding finite element (FE) simulations of the fracture tests. A series of FE analyses coupled with the developed fracture locus was conducted, and the effect of the secondary roll-bending ratio (defined as L2/R2, where L2 and R2, respectively, denote the secondary work roll barrel length and the radius of the convex curvature of the work roll surface profile emulating positive roll bending) and the initial notch length on edge cracking in the strip during cold rolling was investigated. The results reveal that the 2D fracture locus that does not include the Lode angle parameter (varying between −0.81 and 0.72 during cold rolling) overestimates the edge cracking in the range of 13.1–22.2%. The effect of the initial notch length on the length of crack grown in the transverse direction of the strip during cold rolling is greatest when the ratio L2/R2 is 0.12.

Ductile fracture in plane stress

A micromechanics-based ductile fracture initiation theory is developed for high-throughput assessment of ductile failure in plane stress. A key concept is that of inhomogeneous yielding such that microscopic failure occurs in bands with the driving force being a combination of band-resolved normal and shear tractions. The new criterion is similar to the much popularized Mohr—Coulomb model, but the sensitivity of fracture initiation to the third stress invariant constitutes an emergent outcome of the formulation. Salient features of a fracture locus in plane stress are parametrically analyzed. In particular, it is shown that a finite shear ductility cannot be rationalized based on an isotropic theory that proceeds from first principles. Thus, the isotropic formulation is supplemented with an anisotropic model accounting for void rotation and shape change in order to complete the prediction of a fracture locus and compare with experiments. A wide body of experimental data from the literature is explored and a simple procedure for calibrating the theory is outlined. Comparisons with experiments are discussed in some detail.