Size effect on deformation behavior and ductile fracture in microforming of pure copper sheets considering free surface roughening

• The t/d ratio is identified as the average number of grains through thickness.
• Decreasing t/d ratio promotes surface roughening and the scatter of fracture strain.
• Free surface roughening promotes strain localization and premature fracture.
• Fracture mode is determined by the combination of size effect and surface roughening.

In meso/micro-scaled plastic deformation, material deformation and ductile fracture are quite different from those in macro-scale. The roughness of the free surfaces of workpiece increases with deformation and the decrease of grain number in the sample thickness direction, leading to the nonuniformity of specimen thickness. The so-called size effect and free surface roughening may in turn affect the deformation behavior, ductility and fracture morphology of the samples. To explore the coupled effect of workpiece geometry and grain size on material flow behavior in meso/micro-scaled plastic deformation, uniaxial tensile test of pure copper sheets with different thicknesses and comparable microstructure was performed. The experimental results reveal that the material flow stress, fracture stress and strain, and the number of microvoids on fracture surface are getting smaller with the decreasing ratio of specimen thickness to grain size. In addition, the modified Swift’s equation and the corrected uniform strain are closer to the experimental ones considering the thickness nonuniform coefficient induced by the free surface roughening. Furthermore, the observation of fracture morphologies confirms that the local deformation caused by the free surface roughening leads to strain localization and a decreased fracture strain when there are only a few grains involved in plastic deformation.

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