Thermomechanical experiments were carried out to reproduce the hot stamping process and to investigate the effects of process parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of stamped parts. The process parameters, such as austenitizing temperature,soaking time, initial deformation temperature and cooling rate, are studied. The resulting microstructures of specimens were observed and analyzed. To evaluate the mechanical properties of specimens, tensile and hardness tests were also performed at room temperature. The optimum parameters to achieve the highest tensile strength and the desired microstructure were acquired by comparing and analyzing the results. It is indicated that hot deformation changes the transformation characteristics of 22MnB5 steel. Austenite deformation promotes the austenite-to-ferrite transformation and elevates the critical cooling rate to induce a fully martensitic transformation.
To better understand the fracture behavior of TA15 titanium alloy during hot forming, three groups of experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of deformation temperature, strain rate, initial microstructure, and stress triaxiality on the fracture behavior of TA15 titanium alloy. The microstructure and fracture surface of the alloy were observed by scanning electronic microscopy to analyze the potential fracture mechanisms under the experimental deformation conditions. The experimental results indicate that the fracture strain increases with increasing deformation temperature, decreasing strain rate, and decreasing stress triaxiality. Fracture is mainly caused by the nucleation, growth, and coalescence of microvoids because of the breakdown of compatibility requirements at the α/β interface. In the equiaxed microstructure, the fracture strain decreases with decreasing volume fraction of the primary α-phase(αp) and increasing α/β-interface length. In the bimodal microstructure, the fracture strain is mainly affected by α-lamella width.
Lei YangBao-yu WangJian-guo LinHui-jun ZhaoWen-yu Ma
