Micromechanics-based damage model for failure prediction in cold forming

The purpose of this study was to develop a micromechanics-based damage (micro-damage) model that was concerned with the evolution of micro-voids for failure prediction in cold forming. Typical stainless steel SS316L was selected as the specimen material, and the nonlinear isotropic hardening rule was extended to describe the large deformation of the specimen undergoing cold forming. A micro-focus high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (CT) system was employed to trace and measure the micro-voids inside the specimen directly. Three-dimensional (3D) representative volume element (RVE) models with different sizes and spatial locations were reconstructed from the processed CT images of the specimen, and the average size and volume fraction of micro-voids (VFMV) for the specimen were determined via statistical analysis. Subsequently, the micro-damage model was compiled as a user-defined material subroutine into the finite element (FE) package ABAQUS. The stress-strain responses and damage evolutions of SS316L specimens under tensile and compressive deformations at different strain rates were predicted and further verified experimentally. It was concluded that the proposed micro-damage model is convincing for failure prediction in cold forming of the SS316L material.