Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

CHAPTER 2: METALLURGICAL ASPECTS OF METAL FORMING

Material properties in metal forming
Many properties are desired from a material like strength, stiffness, corrosion resistance. But the
most important criteria in the forming process is the formability of the material. To be successfully
formed, a metal must possess certain properties. Desirable properties include low yield strength
and high ductility. These properties are affected by temperature. Ductility is increased and yield
strength is reduced when work temperature is raised. The effect of temperature gives rise to
distinctions between cold working, warm working, and hot working. Strain rate and friction are
additional factors that affect performance in metal forming.

Independent variables in metal forming

Independent variables are those aspects of the process over which the engineer has direct control,
and they are generally selected or specified when setting up a process. Some of independent
variables in a typical forming process are:
 Starting material
 Starting geometry of the workpiece
 Tool or die geometry
 Lubrication
 Starting temperature
 Speed of operation
 Amount of deformation

Engineering stress and strain

The engineering stress–strain curve is still widely used and a number of properties are derived
from it. Figure 1 shows the engineering stress strain curve obtained for a specimen under tension.
A typical stress-strain curve can be divided into two regions namely elastic and plastic. When the
load is first applied, the specimen elongates in proportion to the load, called linear elastic behavior.
If the load is removed, the specimen returns to its original length and shape, in a manner similar
to stretching a rubber band and releasing it as shown in figure 2. This linear relationship is known
as Hooke’s law.

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

Figure 1 Engineering stress and strain diagram

The engineering stress is defined as the ratio of the applied load to the original cross-sectional area
of the specimen. Engineering stress is defined as:
F
S
AO

The engineering strain is given by:

L LF  LO
e 
LO LO
Where F is the applied load, Ao is the original cross sectional area, Lo is the initial gauge length
and LF is the final length.

Figure 2 Behavior of the material during elastic and plastic deformation

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

As the load is increased, the specimen begins to undergo nonlinear elastic deformation at a stress
called the proportional limit. At that point, the stress and strain are no longer proportional, as they
were in the linear elastic region, but when unloaded, the specimen still returns to its original shape.
Permanent deformation occurs when the yield stress (SY), of the material is reached.
For soft and ductile materials, it may not be easy to determine the exact location on the stress-
strain curve at which yielding occurs, because the slope of the curve begins to decrease slowly
above the proportional limit. Therefore, Y is usually defined by drawing a line with the same slope
as the linear elastic curve, but that is offset by a strain of 0.002, or 0.2% elongation. The yield
stress is then defined as the stress where this offset line intersects the stress-strain curve. This
simple procedure is shown in figure 1.
The initial yield stress is given by:
FY
SY 
Ao
As the specimen begins to elongate under a continuously increasing load, its cross-sectional area
decreases permanently and uniformly throughout its gage length. As the load is increased further,
the engineering stress eventually reaches a maximum and then begins to decrease. The maximum
engineering stress is called the tensile strength, or ultimate tensile strength (UTS), of the material
and is calculated as:
FU
SU 
Ao
If the specimen is loaded beyond its ultimate tensile strength, it begins to neck. The cross-sectional
area of the specimen is no longer uniform along the gage length and is smaller in the necked region.
As the test progresses, the engineering stress drops further and the specimen finally fractures at
the necked region and the engineering stress at fracture is known as the breaking or fracture stress.
FF
SF 
Ao
The ratio of stress to strain in the elastic region is the modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus
(E). since the engineering strain is dimensionless, E has the same units as stress. The modulus of
elasticity is the slope of the elastic portion of the curve and hence the stiffness of the material. The
higher the E value, the higher is the load required to stretch the specimen to the same extent, and
thus the stiffer is the material.

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

S
E
e
As seen from the discussions above, considerable insight about the behavior of metals during
forming can be obtained from the stress–strain curve. The typical stress–strain curve for most
metals is divided into an elastic region and a plastic region. In metal forming, the plastic region is
of primary interest because the material is plastically and permanently deformed in these
processes.

True stress strain

The engineering stress-strain curve obtained is independent of the initial dimensions of the test-
piece, and it does not represent the true material property curve because engineering stress is based
on the original cross-sectional area of the specimen. However, the instantaneous cross-sectional
area of the specimen becomes smaller as it elongates, thus, engineering stress does not represent
the actual stress to which the specimen is subjected. Also, the gage length changes as the load is
applied. Therefore, engineering strain is not a satisfactory measure of strain because it is based on
the original gage length. To overcome these disadvantages, the study of forming processes is based
on true stress and true strain. Figure 3 shows a typical true stress-strain curve.

Figure 3 True stress and strain diagram

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

In the elastic region, the plot for engineering stress-strain and true stress-strain is quite similar.
Strain values are small, and true strain is nearly equal to engineering strain for most metals of
interest. The respective stress values are also very close to each other. The reason for these near
equalities is that the cross-sectional area of the test specimen is not significantly reduced in the
elastic region. Thus, Hooke’s law holds good for true stress-true strain behavior in elastic region.
The difference between the true stress–strain curve and the engineering stress-strain curve occurs
in the plastic region. The stress values are higher in the plastic region because the instantaneous
cross-sectional area of the specimen, which has been continuously reduced during elongation, is
now used in the computation. As in the previous curve, a downturn finally occurs as a result of
necking. A dashed line is used in the figure to indicate the projected continuation of the true stress-
strain plot if necking had not occurred.
True stress is defined as the ratio of the load, to the current (instantaneous) cross-sectional area.
F

Ai
If, during deformation of the test-piece, the gauge length increases by a small amount, dL, a
suitable definition of strain is that the strain increment is the extension per unit current length, i.e.
dL
d 
L
For very small strains, where L ≈ Lo, the strain increment is very similar to the engineering strain,
but for larger strains there is a significant difference. If the straining process continues uniformly
in the one direction, as it does in the tensile test, the strain increment can be integrated to give the
true strain, i.e.
L
dL i dL L
   d    ln i
L Lo L Lo
True strain is the sum of each incremental elongation divided by the current length of specimen,
where Lo is original gauge length and Li is the gauge length corresponding to load F. The most
important characteristics of true stress-strain diagram is that true stress increases all the way to
fracture.
Stress increases continuously in the plastic region until necking begins. This indicates that the
metal is becoming stronger as strain increases. This is the property called strain hardening that was

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

mentioned in the previous chapter in the discussion of metallic crystal structures, and it is a
property that most metals exhibit to a greater or lesser degree. Strain hardening, or work hardening
as it is often called, is an important factor in certain manufacturing processes, particularly metal
forming.

Relationship between true and engineering stress strains

The plastic deformation in metals and alloys takes place without any appreciable change in
volume. The volume of the gauge section is constant, i.e. from volume constancy,
V  Ao Lo  Ai Li
Engineering strain is given by:
Li  Lo Li
e  1 or
Lo Lo
Li
e 1 
Lo
The true stress is calculated as:
F F Li L
   S i
Ai Ao Lo Lo
Therefore, the relationship between the true stress and engineering stress is given by:
  S (e  1)
True strain is given by:
L
dL i dL L
   d    ln i or
L Lo L Lo
  ln(1  e)

Flow curve
Plastic region of stress-strain curve is primary interest because material is plastically deformed.
The curve obtained by plotting true stress against true strain is called as flow curve. The flow curve
is used to judge the formability of metals. The flow curve is used to determine the new yield
strength after a plastic deformation process. The typical stress–strain relationship for a metal
exhibits elasticity below the yield point and strain hardening above it. The flow curve also

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

describes the hardening behavior of metals during plastic deformation in terms of equivalent strain,
equivalent strain rate and temperature. In the plastic region, the metal’s behavior is expressed by
the flow curve:
  K n
where K (MPa) is the strength coefficient, and n is the strain-hardening exponent. The flow curve
is generally valid as a relationship that defines a metal’s plastic behavior in cold working.

Flow stress and average flow stress

The flow curve describes the stress–strain relationship in the region in which metal forming takes
place. It indicates the flow stress of the meta which is a strength property that determines forces
and power required to accomplish a particular forming operation. The stress required to continue
deformation must be increased to match this increase in strength. Flow stress is defined as the
instantaneous value of stress required to continue deforming the material to keep the metal flowing.
Figure 4 shows a typical flow curve with flow stress and average flow stress. It is the yield strength
of the metal as a function of strain, which can be expressed:
Y f  K n
Where Yf (MPa) is the flow stress.
The average flow stress (mean flow stress) is the average value of stress over the stress–strain
curve from the beginning of strain to the final (maximum) value that occurs during deformation.
The average flow stress is determined by integrating the above flow curve equation between zero
and the final strain value defining the range of interest. This yields the equation:
K n
Yf 
1 n
Where Y f (MPa) is the average flow stress and  is the maximum strain value during the

deformation process.

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Figure 4 Flow curve showing flow stress and average flow stress

Yield criteria
In many situations like in metal forming processes, complex and multiaxial stresses are present
and in this situation it is necessary to know when a material will yield. The relationships between
the yield point under uniaxial tensile test and yield strength under complex situations are known
as yield criteria. This problem of deducing mathematical relationships for predicting the conditions
at which plastic yielding begins when a material is subjected to a complex state of stress is an
important consideration in the field of plasticity. In uniaxial loading, plastic flow begins at the
yield stress, and it is to be expected that yielding under a situation of combined stresses and is
related to some particular combination of principal stresses. At present, there are two generally
accepted theories for predicting the onset of yielding in ductile metals.

Von Mises yield criteria

This theory is also known as distortion energy theory. Von Mises yield criterion is found to be
suitable for most of the ductile materials used in forming operations. According to this criterion,
yielding will occur when shear strain energy per unit volume reaches a critical value. If 1, 2,
3 are principal stresses such that 1 2 3, then the flow stress in terms of principal stresses,
2Y f  ( 1   2 )2  ( 2   3 )2  ( 3   1 )2

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

Tresca yield criteria

It is also called maximum shear stress theory. Here the yielding starts when the maximum shear
stress ( max ) in the material equals the critical shear value (k).

 max  k
Assume that a body is subjected to tri-axial stresses. If 1, 2, 3 are principal stresses such
that 1 2 3, then the uniaxial yield stress in terms of principal stresses,
Y f   max   min
Yf
where, k 
2
where max is the most positive principal stress and min the most negative principal stress.

Slip and twinning

When a crystal is subjected to external force, it undergoes deformation. When load is removed
within the elastic range, it returns to its original shape. But if the force on crystal structure is
increased considerably, crystal undergoes plastic deformation and when the load it removed it does
not return to its original shape. This process is called as plastic deformation. There are two
prominent mechanisms by which plastic deformation takes place. They are slip and twinning.

Slip is the prominent mechanism of plastic deformation in metals. It involves sliding of blocks of
crystal over one other along definite crystallographic planes, called slip planes. It is analogous to
a deck of cards when it is pushed from one end. There are certain preferred directions along which
slip is more likely to occur. The number of these slip directions depends on the lattice type. HCP
has the fewest slip directions, BCC the most, and FCC falls in between. Slip occurs when shear
stress applied exceeds a critical value. Thus, there must be a shear stress of sufficient magnitude
within a crystal for plastic deformation to occur; otherwise the deformation remains elastic. During
slip each atom usually moves same integral number of atomic distances along the slip plane
producing a step, but the orientation of the crystal remains the same. The shear stress required to
cause slip in single crystals is directly proportional to the ratio b/a shown in figure 5. Here a is the
spacing of the atomic planes and b is inversely proportional to the atomic density in the atomic
plane. As b/a decreases, the shear stress required to cause slip decreases. Thus, slip in a single

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

crystal takes place along planes of maximum atomic density; in other words, slip takes place in
closely packed planes and in closely packed directions. Because the b/a ratio varies for different
directions within the crystal, a single crystal exhibits different properties when tested in different
directions; this property is called anisotropy.

Figure 5 Plastic deformation by (a) Slip, (b) Twinning

The second mechanism by which plastic deformation takes places is twinning. Twinning can be
defined as a mechanism of plastic deformation in which atoms on one side of a plane (called the
twinning plane) are shifted to form a mirror image of the other side of the plane. It is illustrated in
figure. The mechanism is important in HCP metals (e.g., magnesium, tin, zinc) because they do
not slip readily. Twins form abruptly and are the cause of the creaking sound that occurs when a
tin or zinc rod is bent at room temperature. Besides structure, another factor in twinning is the rate
of deformation. The slip mechanism requires more time than twinning, which can occur almost
instantaneously. Thus, in situations in which the deformation rate is very high, metals which would
otherwise slip would twin. Low carbon steel is an example that illustrates this rate sensitivity;
when subjected to high strain rates it twins, whereas at moderate rates it deforms by slip.

Material properties in metal forming:

Metal forming is influenced by:

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 Working temperature
 Strain rate
 Microstructure
 Friction

Effect of temperature:
Increasing the temperature generally has the following effects on stress-strain curves.
a. The ductility and toughness increases, and
b. The yield stress and the modulus of elasticity decrease.
Temperature also affects the strain-hardening exponent of most metals, in that n decreases with
increasing temperature. The influence of temperature is, however, best described in conjunction
with the rate of deformation.

Effect of strain rate

The deformation rate is defined as the speed at which a tension test is being carried out, in units
of, say, m/s. The strain rate, on the other hand, is a function of the specimen’s length. A short
specimen elongates proportionately more during the same period than does a long specimen.
The rate at which the metal is strained in a forming process is directly related to the speed of
deformation, v. In many forming operations, deformation speed is equal to the velocity of the ram
or other moving element of the equipment. It is most easily visualized in a tensile test as the
velocity of the testing machine head relative to its fixed base. Given the deformation speed, strain
rate is defined:
v

h
where  is the true strain rate (s–1) and h (m) is the instantaneous height of the workpiece being
deformed. If deformation speed v is constant during the operation, strain rate will change as h
changes. In most practical forming operations valuation of strain rate is complicated by the
geometry of the work part and variations in strain rate in different regions of the part. Figure 6
shows the effect of strain rate on yield strength of the material. Strain rate can reach 1000 s–1 or
more for some metal forming processes such as high-speed rolling and forging.

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

We know that flow stress of a metal is a function of temperature. At the temperatures of hot
working, flow stress depends on strain rate. The effect of strain rate on strength properties is known
as strain rate sensitivity. Increasing the strain rate increases the strength of the material because as
strain rate is increased, resistance to deformation increases.
Therefore, the strain rate has three principal effects in metal working
 Flow stress of the metal increases with strain rate
 Temperature of the workpiece is increased because of adiabatic heating
 There is improved lubrication at the too-metal interface as long as the lubrication film can
be maintained

Figure 6 Influence of strain rate on yield strength

Combining deformation velocity with deformation zone it is possible to produce high strain rates.
For example, for fine wire drawing a speed of 120 ft./sec can result in a strain rate in excess of
105/sec. High strain rate is attained by concentrating deformation into a narrow zone rather than
producing very high particle velocities. In high energy rate forming (HERF) deformation velocity
as high as 700 ft./sec is used. Super elastic forming: here materials exhibit resistance to necking.
Occurs with very fine grain size of the order 1µm and deformation temperatures above 0.4Tm.
Generally forming is done at strain rates below 0.01/sec

Effect of microstructure
Choice of a metal for metal forming process depends on the properties required in final product,
economy of the process and severity of the forming process. In metal forming, deformation force
varies. The force is influenced by flow stress of material, metallurgical and mechanical properties
of formed material.

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Consider plain carbon steel. Two microstructural variables influence the formability at room
temperature.

• Amount of pearlite

• Ferrite grain size

Increasing the pearlite content increases the flow stress and decreases the yield extension. Also,
the yield extension controls flow stress at low strains because of high work hardening rate at such
strains. Pearlite has positive effect on work hardening rate. Pearlite decreases the uniform strain
because it influences the flow stress more than the work hardening rate. Ferrite grain size has no
effect on uniform strain at room temperature. Because fine grain size due to grain refinement
increases the flow stress as well as work hardening rate thus resulting in same uniform strain.

Effect of friction
Friction in metal forming arises because of the close contact between the tool and work surfaces
and the high pressures that drive the surfaces together in these operations.
In most metal forming processes, friction is undesirable for the following reasons:
(1) metal flow in the work is retarded, causing residual stresses and sometimes defects in the
product
(2) forces and power to perform the operation are increased, and
(3) tool wear can lead to loss of dimensional accuracy, resulting in defective parts and requiring
replacement of the tooling.

In plastic deformation process the workpiece deforms and slides against harder tool surface which
generates a frictional stress. There is a limit to friction coefficient because materials decide the
deformation pattern that minimizes the deformation energy. If friction is high, then the interface
shear stress will reach the shear flow stress of workpiece. The material will refuse to slide on tool
surface but will deform by shearing inside the body. Friction coefficient becomes meaningless
because there is no relative sliding at interface. This is called sticking friction
Friction increases the pressure and forces and limit the attainable reduction during forming
process. Therefore, the friction has to be reduced. This can be done by applying lubricants. Good
lubricant can separate the die and work surfaces and prevent adhesion, control surface finish and
prevent heat loss. Adhesion is undesirable as it effects tool and workpiece by causing die wear and

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

workpiece damage. But the lubricant must be non-toxic and non-allergic, easy to apply and
remove, should not interference in subsequent operations or cause corrosion.

Metalworking lubricants are applied to the tool–work interface in many forming operations to
reduce the harmful effects of friction. Lubricants used for cold working operations include mineral
oils, fats and fatty oils, water-based emulsions, soaps, and other coatings. Since tools in metal
forming are generally expensive, tool wear is a major concern in hot working process because of
the much harsher environment. Hot working is sometimes performed dry for certain operations
and materials (e.g., hot rolling of steel and extrusion of aluminum). When lubricants are used in
hot working, they include mineral oils, graphite, and glass. Molten glass becomes an effective
lubricant for hot extrusion of steel alloys. Graphite contained in water or mineral oil is a common
lubricant for hot forging of various work materials.

Review questions
1. With a neat sketch, explain the engineering stress-strain diagram.
2. Define the difference between elastic and plastic deformation in terms of the effect on the
crystal lattice structure.
3. Why true stress and strain is considered to study the metal forming process.
4. Determine the relationship between true and engineering stress-strain.
5. Comment of material yielding and yield criteria used in metal forming processes.
6. What is twinning? How does it differ from slip?
7. Write short notes on effect of the following on metal forming.
 Strain rate
 Microstructure
 Friction
8. Write a short note on lubrications used in metal working process
9. Determine the engineering strain, true strain for, (a) A bar doubled in length, (b) A bar which
is halved in length.
10. A tensile force of 9 kN is applied to the ends of a solid bar of 6.25 mm diameter. under the
load, diameter reduces to 5 mm. Assuming uniform deformation and volume consistency, (a)
Determine engineering stress and strain, (b) True stress and strain, (c) If the original bar has

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 Theory of Metal Forming (MME4045)

been subjected to true stress of 345 MPa and resulting diameter was 5.6 mm, what are the
engineering stress and strain values.
11. A strip of metal is originally 1.5 m long. It is stretched in three steps. First, to a length of 1.75
m, then to 2m and finally 3 m. Show that, the strains are addictive. Also show that using
engineering strains, the strain for each step cannot be added to obtain total strain.
12. A bar of 100 mm long is elongated to 200 mm by rolling in 3 steps: 100-120 mm, 120-150 mm
and 150-200 mm. (a) Calculate engineering strain for each step and compare the sum of three
with overall engineering strain. (b) Calculate true strain for each step and compare the sum of
three with overall true strain. Make a comment on the observations made.
13. A tensile specimen with 12 mm initial diameter and 50 mm gage length reaches a maximum
load of 90 kN and fractures at 70 kN. Maximum diameter at fracture is 10 mm. Determine (a)
Engineering stress at maximum load, (b) True strain at fracture, (c) Engineering strain at
fracture, (d) Engineering stress at fracture, (e) True stress at fracture.
14. A paper clip is made of wire 1.20-mm in diameter. If the original material from which the wire
is made is a rod 15-mm in diameter, calculate the longitudinal and diametrical engineering and
true strains that the wire has undergone.
15. A tensile force of 9 kN is applied to the ends of a solid bar of 6.35 mm diameter. Under load,
the diameter reduces to 5.00 mm. Assuming uniform deformation and volume constancy, (a)
Determine the engineering stress and strain, (b) determine the true stress and strain, (c) if the
original bar had been subjected to a true stress of 345 MPa and the resulting diameter was 5.60
mm, what are the engineering stress and engineering strain for this condition?
16. A metal has a flow curve with parameters, K = 700 MPa, strain hardening exponent = 0.26. A
tensile specimen of gage length 45 mm is stretched to a length of 85 mm. Determine the flow
stress at this new length and average flow stress.
17. For a metal forming operation, K = 600 MPa, n = 0.2 and true strain = 0.73. Determine the
flow stress at this strain and also determine the average flow stress that metal experienced
during the operation.
18. A particular metal has a flow curve with parameters; strength coefficient = 850 MPa and strain
hardening exponent = 0.26. A tensile specimen of the metal with gage length = 50 mm is
stretched to a length = 80 mm. Determine the flow stress at this new length and the average
flow stress that the metal was subjected to during deformation.

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19. If K = 600 MPa and n = 0.2 for certain metal. During a forming operation, the final true strain
that the metal experienced = 0.73. Determine the flow stress at this strain and average flow
stress that metal experienced during the operation.
20. A material with a yield stress of 70 MPa is subjected to three principal stresses of 1, 2 and 3
= -1/2. What is the value of when the metal yields according to von Mises criterion? What if
2 = 1/3?
21. An aluminum alloy yields at a stress of 50 MPa in uniaxial tension. If the material is subjected
to a stress of 1 = 25 MPa, 2 = 15 MPa and 1 = 26 MPa. Will it yield?
22. A metal is yielding plastically under the stress state shown in the figure. (a) Label the principal
axis according to their proper numerical convention, (b) What is the yield stress using Tresca
criterion, (c) If von Mises yield criterion is used, (d) The stress state causes measured strains
of 1 = 0.4, 2 = 0.2 and 3 is not measured. What is the value of 3.

References:
 M.P. Groover, Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing, 4(e), John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
USA, 2010.
 S. Kalpakjian & S.R. Schmid, Manufacturing Engineering and Technology, (3e), Addision
Wesley, New York, 1995.
 G.E. Dieter, Mechanical Metallurgy, 3(e), McGraw Hill, New York, 1989.

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