On certain aspects of strain rate sensitivity of sheet metals

The formability of a material depends upon the strain hardening and strain rate hardening of the material. In this study, constitutive parameters using the power law constitutive equation are determined for six different strength steels and two aluminum alloys over different strain ranges, including approximations of the postuniform elongation range. Constitutive parameters are found to be different at different strain ranges. The strain hardening of steels increases with strain at low strain levels (less than 5%) and decreases at high strain levels (greater than 10%). Strain rate hardening decreases with strain for all steels and aluminum alloys. Uniform elongation depends only on strain hardening, and postuniform elongation depends only on strain rate hardening. However, the total elongation depends on both strain hardening and strain rate hardening.