Axisymmetric V-Bending of Sheet Metal: Determining the Fracture Strain and the Weakest Material Direction for Plane Strain Tension in One Test

Abstract Plane strain tension is one of the most critical loading conditions leading to ductile failure in forming and crash applications. Hence knowing the fracture strain and weakest orientation for this stress state is crucial for safe design. A novel axisymmetric V-bending experiment is proposed to identify the strain to fracture and the weakest sheet material orientation for plane strain tension under proportional loading. After clamping its inner and outer boundaries, a disc-shaped specimen with an annular gage section is bent over a tubular knife of diameter 54mm. A single camera takes images of the top surface of the specimen throughout the experiment. It allows for timely crack detection and digital image correlation-based strain measurements. Experiments are performed on a range of modern engineering materials comprising two aluminium alloys (AA7075 and AA6014) as well as two steels (DP1180 and CR4). The experiments are complemented by Finite Element simulations to assess the robustness of the novel experimental approach.