Validation of a simplified computer simulation method for plastic forming of metals by conventional tensile tests

Abstract This work was developed in order to validate a simplified computer simulation method for application in the drawing processes. The results of tensile tests on AISI 1004, AISI 1020 steel and copper were compared to those of computer simulations performed using the Deform-3D TM software. Each specimen was assumed to be an elasto-plastic material and was meshed with 50,000 finite elements. Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio were the only material properties considered in the elastic region; the parameters of Hollomon's equation were used in the plastic region up to constriction. A strain rate of 1x10-3 s-1 was applied during the simulations. In the plastic region, up to the point of constriction, the curves obtained from the simulations showed reasonable correspondence to those determined from physical testing. However, the former diverged from the latter in the elastic and elastic-plastic transition regions. This divergence indicates that microstructural factors may have a greater influence in the transition region than in the plastic region. Moreover, the correlation obtained in the plastic region indicates that the proposed method has the potential to be applied in drawing processes.