In-plane biaxial compression and tension testing of thin sheet materials

Detailed experimental data on the behavior of textured sheet metals under compressive loading is important to describe their tension-compression asymmetry. This is particularly needed for materials that exhibit a strength-differential effect, or in cases where the Bauschinger effect occurs. So far, there is no systematic work describing the third quadrant in the 2D stress space under biaxial compressive loading. This paper presents a new device for biaxial, compressive in-plane testing of thin sheets. Biaxial and uniaxial compression experiments are carried out in the strain controlled device, analyzing the behavior of deep drawing steel sheets with and without skin-pass treatment. Moreover, in order to allow for the experimental description of the yield surfaces, biaxial tensile tests are performed. Detailed numerical validations and experimental strain analysis both for the new specimen for biaxial compressive testing and for the cruciform specimen for biaxial tensile testing show that reasonably homogeneous strain distributions can be achieved. The combined experimental and numerical method presented here allows to evaluate the tension-compression asymmetry of thin sheet materials. The results for the skin-passed condition clearly exhibit a tension-compression asymmetry, which highlights the necessity of biaxial compression tests already in the as-received material condition. The biaxial compression test opens a pathway to a more detailed analysis of the flow behavior of thin sheets under biaxial compression loading.