Stainless steel forming processes require simple laboratory simulation tools to save production costs. Although reliable numerical tools are available, there is still a need for appropriate constitutive laws. Stainless steel is characterized at high strain rates with an instrumented impact test machine. This allows determining the rheological parameters of different grades to be fitted in a simple constitutive law. Accurate results are thus obtained that afford an effective simulation of the stainless steel forming process with FE-analysis (Forge3).
This is illustrated with the development of a new austenitic stainless steel grade for cold heading applications.