Modelling stamped edges in FEM breakage analyses of high-strength steel safety components

Abstract The development process for new safety components includes break load tests, where the component undergoes very large strains. Besides the mechanical properties of the steel, which are changed by the forming process, the break load depends on the quality of the stamped edges. Target of this paper is to investigate whether a hole-tensile test with a stamped hole can demonstrate the effects of stamped-edge quality on the load bearing capacity – and secondary, how such a test procedure can be reproduced with a multi-scale FEM procedure. A series of Hole Tensile Tests (HTT) has been performed with a HSLA steel grade. Here, only minor differences in break load and total elongation were found. The local strain just prior to breakage at the edge of the stamped hole shows remarkably high values, but little difference is found when comparing a machined sample to stamped samples. The multi-scale FEM approach was demonstrated using literature data for dual-phase steel, which is known to be more sensitive to edge cracks. Indeed, a stamped edge, which includes significant hardening and pre-damage, shows earlier fracture in this FEM calculation – however, the crack propagation, which is needed to capture the full breakage of the HTT sample, is not modelled correctly – this limits the application of the method on safety components.