Evolution of mechanical properties for a dual-phase steel subjected to different loading paths

•Mechanical properties evolution of DP590 steel with loading path was investigated.•Uniaxial tension, equal biaxial stretching and plane strain tension were performed.•The equal biaxial stretching was performed with a cruciform specimen.•DP590 steel has different work hardening performance in different loading paths.•Elastic modulus changes both with the plastic strain and with the loading paths.

The evolution of the mechanical properties of a dual-phase (DP590) steel sheet after being prestrained by uniaxial tension, plane strain and equal biaxial stretching was investigated. Specimens were first loaded using the three prestraining modes. Then, from the prestrained specimens, a few sub-sized samples were machined along the rolling direction and the transverse direction for further uniaxial tension testing. Six loading paths were provided. Equal biaxial stretching was performed using a cruciform specimen. The evolution of work hardening performance, elastic modulus, yield stress and tensile stress under the six loading paths were discussed in detail. The results indicate that loading paths can affect the latent work hardening performances, strain hardenability, yield stress and tensile stress evolution as well as the elastic modulus decrease during plastic deformation. The uniaxial tension–uniaxial tension path results in a cross-softening phenomenon, the largest yield stress enhancement and a mild maximum tensile stress increase. The equal biaxial stretching-uniaxial tension path leads to a cross-hardening phenomenon, the least yield stress enhancement and the largest tensile strength increase maximum tensile strength. The elastic modulus of DP590 steel not only changes with the accumulated plastic strain but also varies with the loading paths. The largest decrease of the elastic modulus equal biaxial stretching–uniaxial tension can reach 12.7% beyond 8% equivalent strain, which is 5.2% greater than that in the monotonic uniaxial tension path.