Numerical investigation on the forming behaviour of stainless/carbon steel bimetal composite

Abstract

Bimetal composites have wide applications due to their excellent overall performance and relatively low comprehensive cost. The aim of this study is to investigate the forming behaviour of stainless/carbon steel bimetal composite during stamping by finite element method (FEM). In this work, the bonding interface of bimetal composite sheet was assumed to be perfect without delamination during the plastic forming process for simplicity. Uniaxial tensile tests on base metal (carbon steel) and compositing metal (stainless steel) were first carried out, respectively, in order to obtain the tensile properties of each of the component materials required in the forming simulation. Processing variables, including the layer stacking sequence, relative thickness ratios of two layers and friction were considered, and their effects on the distributions of circumferential stress and thickness strain were analysed. The bimetal composite sheet was set as the eight-node solid elements in the developed FEM model, which is effective for evaluating the distributions of circumferential stress and thickness strain, and predicting the high-risk region of necking during the stamping of bimetal composites. The simulation results can be used as an evaluation indicator of the capability of forming machine to ensure the bimetal composite can be safely formed.