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Paper from: Structures Under Shock and Impact VII, N Jones, CA Brebbia and AM Rajendran (Editors).
ISBN 1-85312-911-9

Constitutive relation and failure criterion for

three structural steels at high strain rates

S. Dey, O. S. Hopperstad, T. B@vik and A. H. Clausen

Structural Impact Laboratory (SlA4Lab), Department of Structural
Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Abstract

The effects of strain rate, temperature and stress triaxiality on strength and
ductility are studied for the three structural steels Weidox 460 E, Weldox 700 E
and Weldox 900 E. The material properties are obtained from three types of
tensile tests: quasi-static tests with smooth and notched specimens, quasi-static
tests at elevated temperatures and dynamic tests over a wide range of strain rates.
The test data are used to determine material constants for constitutive relations
and fracture criteria for the three steels.

Introduction

Problems related to impact loading conditions such as penetration mechanisms,

collisions and explosions, imply a stress-strain response affected by large strains,
high strain rates, temperature softening, varying stress states and loading history.
For design purposes it is of importance to model the mechanical response, so that
these effects are accounted for.
B@rvik has investigated the ballistic penetration and perforation of
Weldox 460 E steel plates [1]. The work involved an extensive experimental
programme of material and component tests, in addition to material modelling
and numerical simulations. As a continuation it is of interest to extend the work
by including the strength of the material as a variable. Two materials of higher
strength than Weldox 460 E have been considered, namely Weldox 700 E and
Weldox 900 E. Experimental data and material models for all three materials are
presented and compared in this paper.
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428 .Stlwrnlre.s [ Mel Silcz-k 0)?1/ fnlpuct 1 “[l

Experimental programme

Material characterisation was carried out for the three steel alloys Weldox 460 E,
Weldox 700 E and Weldox 900 E, where the numbers indicate achievable
nominal yield strength. Weldox is a group of thermomechanically (TM) rolled
ferritic structural steels that has special qualities, such as high strength and
ductility. Compared with normalised steel, TM steels have a microstructure
containing less pearlite, The very fine microstructure consists of randomly
distributed irregular and acicular shaped grains, which indicates that the
macroscopic behaviour is almost isotropic [2]. The effects of temperature, strain
rate and stress triaxiality on the strength and ductility of the material were
studied. Three types of tensile tests were carried out: quasi-static tests with
smooth and notched specimens, quasi-static tests at elevated temperatures and
dynamic tests over a wide range of strain rates. All specimens were taken parallel
to the rolling direction of the steel plate. The geometry of the various specimens
used in the tests is shown in Figure 1.

Tensile tests at elevated temperatures

Tensile tests at elevated temperatures were conducted using an Instron test

machine equipped with a temperature controlled chamber. The experimental
programme consisted of tests at 6 different temperatures (T =20 “C, T = 100 ‘C,
T = 200 ‘C, T = 300 “C, T = 400 “C and T = 500 “C), Thermocouples were used
to measure temperature both in the chamber and direct]y on the specimens. To
ensure fully heated specimens and grips, the temperature was kept constant for a
while before testing. During the tests, load, crosshead displacement and
temperature were measured. A high temperature extensometer was used to
measure the longitudinal strain until necking. The tests were performed on
smooth cylindrical specimens with dimensions given in Figure 1-A.

Smooth cylindrical specimen used in: A, quasi-static tests and B. dynamic tests.

II 10 6

so
*

C. Notched cylindrical specimen used in quasi-static test.

Figure 1: Geometry and dimensions of the various specimens in mm.

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Dynamic tensile tests

The strain rate sensitivity of the three materials was obtained using two different
experimental techniques [3]. An Instron test machine was employed for tensile
tests at five different nominal strain rates ( e = 10-3S-l, e = 102 s-i, e = 10-1s-’,
e = 10° s-i and e = 101 s-i). The tests were performed by controlling the
displacement. Load, crosshead displacement and time were measured. The
longitudinal strain was recorded using an extensometer. The strain rate was
always checked to be constant during these tests. The maximum obtainable strain
rate of the Instron machine is approximately 20 S-l. The tensile tests for higher
strain rates were conducted in a modified Split-Hopklnson bar [4]. Strain gauges
placed on the incident and output bar, at equal distances from the specimen, were
used for measurements of the incident, reflected and transmitted pulses. The data
was used to calculate the engineering stress, strain and strain rate. The geometry
of the specimen is given in Figure l-B.

Quasi-static tensile tests: smooth and notched specimens

Quasi-static tensile tests were performed on cylindrical specimens at room

temperature under a constant deformation rate dependent on the notch radius.
The experimental programme consisted of both smooth and pre-notched
specimens tested with four different notched radii (R = 4.0 mm, R = 2.0 mm,
R=0,8 mm and R = 0.4 mm). During the tests, applied load, cross head
displacement and diameter reduction were measured. The geometry of the
cylindrical specimens is shown in Figure 1-A and l-C.
A purpose-built device was used to measure the reduction in cross-
sectional area to failure using four displacement gauges [5]. The diameter
reduction (Ad) is calculated from the average of the recordings from the gauges,
Assuming constant volume, the true strain can be related to the current diameter
(d= & - Ad) and the initiaI diameter (&) of the specimen, i.e.

do
E=ln +=21n~ (1)
o

The true stress is calculated as the applied load divided by the current minimum
cross-sectional area (IS= F/A).

Experimental results

Tensile tests at elevated temperatures

The true stress at different levels of true plastic strain is piotted as a function of
temperature in Figure 2 (left) for the three materials. Data are given in the range
before diffuse necking. The figures clearly indicate that the three materials
respond similarly to variations in temperature. The yield strength of all three
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materials is reduced for increasing temperature. Almost the same tendency is

found for flow stresses corresponding to plastic strains higher than 0.2 %.
However, at a temperature of 200-300 “C, it is noticeable that the flow stress
stays constant. This is an effect due to strain ageing and is known as blue
brittleness [6].
The true fracture strain is calculated from the measured average fracture
area using eqn (1). Figure 3 (right, top) shows fracture strain versus temperature
for the three materials. Both the temperature and strength of the materials
influence the fracture strain and hence the ductility. The trend is that the ductility
increases for increasing temperature, but decreases for increasing strength. For
temperatures below 200-300 “C the fracture strain is not marked] y dependent on
the temperature. This is due to blue brittleness, For higher temperatures the
ductility increases.

Dynamic tensile tests

The true stress at different levels of plastic strain is plotted as a function of strain
rate in Figure 2 (right) for the three metals. Clearly, the effect of strain rate is not
very prominent, although an increase in stress is observed for the highest strain
rate levels.
The materials’ ductility seems not to be particularly affected by the strain
rate within the given range (see Figure 3 (right, middie)). However, there is a
large scatter in the data, and no firm conclusions can be drawn from the test
results.

Quasi-static tensile tests: smooth and notched specimens

Figure 3 (left) presents the calculated true stress-strain curves for both smooth
and pre-notched specimens for all three materials, It is seen from the plots that
the materials are much affected by the notch geometry, As the radius of the notch
decreases, the ductility decreases.
The maximum initial triaxiality ratio is calculated according to Bridgman’s
analysis [7]:

(2)

where a and R are the initial radius of the specimen’s cross-section and the notch
profile radius, respectively. The fracture strain as a function of maximum initial
triaxiality ratio is given in Figure 3 (right, bottom). The fracture strain is about
30-50 % less for the specimen with notch radius 4.0 mm than for a smooth
specimen. As the notch radius decreases, the ductiiity continues to decrease but
at a lower rate. Note that a minimum ductility is obtained at a notch radius equal
to 0.8 mm. It is noteworthy that the ductility is significantly more sensitive to
stress triaxiality for Weldox 700 E and Weldox 900 E than for Weldox 460 E.
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ISBN 1-85312-911-9

1202 14X — Uu
Weldox 460 E Weldox 460 E
4 !
Km
i I I
L
L

o 102
Tem2~ratumy”C)
4C0 500
‘:~ O.ccol
0.0010.01 01 1 10 100
Strain rate (s-’)
Irno Iotol

II—
20J
2.0% pb?.uc
m
— 4.0 Q4 Dla8uC strain
O+mpqmpq + ,!c!y T

o 10’ ‘ea WJww’ 0.00010.001

0.01 01 1 10 100 1000 10

Temperattue fC) Strain rate (s”l)

1202 1420 ‘“””-
Weldox 900 E Weldox 900 E .
J

:: ~ :

8cL–

6co–

4m–

‘:- -~= ,Y ,~ :
0 Ico 4CQ .s02 O.omlowl 0.01 0.1 1 10 101 IO(N iceoJ

Tem2~ratt#y”C) Stratn rate (s”)

Figure 2: Effect of temperature (left) and strain rate (right) on the flow stress for
Weldox 460 E, Weldox 700 E and Weldox 900 E.
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ISBN 1-85312-911-9

2200
Weldox 460 E
2002
,

Lo<

:~
00 02 0.4
‘hue
0.6 0.8
strain
i .0 1.2 14
:&E3--J
o 100
Tem~&ature ~C)
3034c0500

22ca 2.0
Weldox 700 E
2W2

0,8 {

2C0

o +-~
00
i

0.2 0.4
l?ue
0.6 08
strain
1.0 1.2
t
1.4
:LO.ixnl0.021001 01 I 10
Strain rate (s”]]
la) Icm lcl)co

22a3
RO.4

7
Weldox 900 E ‘“t

I
!: >
; lax F

I
00 1 I t

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1,0 I .2 1,4 0.0 0.5 1,0 1.5 2.0
True strah Initial triaxtality ratio

Figure 3: True stress-strain curves for quasi-static tensile tests on smooth and
notched specimens (left) and fracture strains versus temperature, strain
rate and initial triaxiality (right) for Weldox 460 E, Weldox 700 E and
We\dox 900 E.
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ISBN 1-85312-911-9

.Ytlwctlm’s l’17der Shock and [I?zpuct I ’11 433

Constitutive relation and fracture criterion

One important constitutive relation that is frequently used for impact analysis is
the model proposed by Johnson and Cook [8]. The model is valid for metals
subjected to large strains, high strain rates and high temperatures, and is purely
empirical. In this study a modified version of the model due to Camacho and
Ortiz [9] is adopted. The von Mises equivalent stress is expressed as

6=( A+ BEn)(l+&*)c(l–T*m) (3)

where &is the equivalent plastic strain. The dimensionless strain rate is given by
6“ =&/&o, where EO is a user-defined reference strain rate. The homologous
temperature T* is defined by T“ = (T - T,) /(Tm – T, ), where T is the absolute
temperature and the suffixes r and m indicate the room temperature and the
melting temperature, respective y. The model operates with the five material
constants A, B, C, n and m.
Johnson and Cook [10] developed similarly a failure criterion that accounts
for temperature, strain rate and strain path in addition to the triaxiality of the
stress state. By applying the modified expression for the strain rate sensitivity
[5], the failure strain Ef is defined as

&f= (Dl + Dz exp(D3cr*))(l + &*)D’(1+ D5T*) (4)

The stress triaxiality ratio is defined as a“ = am / 6, where Um is the mean

stress and DI , ,.., Dj are material constants.

Identification of material constants

The modified Johnson-Cook constitutive relation defined in eqn (3) was

calibrated for the three materials using the experimental data obtained from the
tensile tests on smooth specimens. The strain hardening parameters were
determined using the experimental data from the quasi-static tests at room
temperature where the diameter of the minimum cross-section was measured to
fracture, The equivalent stress Z? after diffuse necking was obtained from the
measured longitudinal true stress at the minimum cross-section, (r = F/A, using
Bridgman’s analysis [7]
~= c1
(5)
(l+2R/a).ln(l+a/2R)

The geometry of the diffuse neck is included using the empirical expression
presented by Le Roy et al [11], a/R =l.l(E– EU) for E >Eu , where e, is the
equivalent plastic strain at diffuse necking.
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ISBN 1-85312-911-9

434 ,Stri/ctur(,s
(‘rider .~hlXk ond lmpmt 1‘[i

The true strain is only valid to incipient necking for the tests at high strain rates
and elevated temperatures. Consequent y, it has to be assumed that the effects of
strain rate and temperature seen in the pre-necking phase are representative for
larger strains. The parameters for these two effects were calibrated separately
using the data from Figure 2.
The modified Johnson and Cook fracture model defined in eqn (4) was
calibrated for the three materials using the fracture strain data given in Figure 3
(right). Note that for the quasi-static tests at room temperature, where the
diameter of the minimum cross-section was measured up to fracture, the fracture
strain has been calculated directly from the diameter reduction measurements.
However, for the tests performed at elevated temperatures and for different strain
rates, the true fracture strain is calculated from the measured average fracture
area using eqn (1).
Both models were calibrated by mirtimising the sum of squares between the
model and experimental data, The melting temperature of the materials is taken
to be T~ = 1800 K, while the room temperature is To = 293 K, The user-defined
reference strain rate is taken as &O= 5.10-4 S-l. The parameters obtained for the
three materials are given in Table 1, while Figure 4 compares the models with
the experimental data.
It is very difficult to interpret fracture strain data owing to the variation in
stress triaxiality in quasi-static tests and in addition the increase in strain rate and
temperature in high rate tests. The result is that numerical simulations using
accurate constitutive relations are needed to fully elucidate the influence of
triaxiality, strain rate and temperature on the material’s ductility. Then a more
accurate fracture criterion can be established.

Concluding remarks

The effects of strain rate, temperature and stress triaxiality on strength and
ductility were studied for the three structural steels Weldox 460 E, Weldox 700 E
and Weldox 900 E, Based on the experimental results, constitutive relations and
fracture criteria were determined for the materials, but the calibrations of the
failure criterion need to be evaluated further through finite element analysis.

Table 1: Model constants for the three materials.

Material I Weldox 460 E Weidox 700 E Weldox 900 E
Yield stress A (MPa) 499 859 992
B (MPa) I 382 329 364
Strain hardening
n I 0.458 0.579 0.568
Strain mte hardening C 0.0079 0.0115 0.0087
Temperature softening m 0.893 1.071 1.131
D, 0.636 0.361 0.294
D? 1.936 4,768 5.149
Fracture strain D, -2.969 -5.107 -5.583
D, -0.014 -0.0013 0.0023
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ISBN 1-85312-911-9

Wetia%
W3 E

1
1000 .-~

==4
-+ ----- ● ---

802 ----+ -----

Wekko%7!32 E

‘-i eklox 460 E

. . ..-

-’ ---*-....
. . ..- -.L-
1
&al
2C0
j -- *--
—
Exw-6nm1
JohnsGa.Cmk
o! I I I I
o 102 2@J 3oa 4C42 5ca
Temperature (“C)
lm~ ? 2.0
—
Sres= at 4.0% plastlc strain .
i #
12m+
W40X m E 1,6
.+. . . . . . . ----

*.. +--. ---*..-< .5

Wekbx 703 E g !.2

Im2
I
Wewox 460 E ““- ~ # ~,8
m ● ●- +* ---*---” v

2
4CX2 I

202

I
o 0,0
10 102 Iwo lm O.orml
0.0010.01 0.1 I 10 Iw lca2 IOm2

Stmtn rate (s-’) Strain rate IS-’)

Wx! 1.5 b Sqwrkm ,’ W4kx 4tU E
-- ● -- Fxptisml. Wekkn mE
— +— cxwrtnmLwdtkKmn E
12m – — Jdt$— Wrkku 4W
Weidcu 700 E *
----- dch,mwwckkam

1002 – d’,, - - “tit--” ‘-w

Lo $,
We!dm &a z 5
\ $,
W2 m’ ,,
\ ‘,
$ ~ L

g 0.5{ ‘;~&.
‘ :__
--------- -- .,
t K40b . . . . ..<--z--.T
+:=:=:-..=.
ml 0 RO
2027 !40u
---- Fqaimcnt
‘Johmwtwlak 1
o I I I I I -+
0.0 0.2 0,4 0.6 0,s i .0 1.2 1.4 0.0 0:5 1.0 1,5 2.0
I?qulvalent
stratn Initialtriaxialltyratio

Fiwre 4: Comparison between experimental data and model results for

Wel~ox 460 E, Weldox 706 E and Weldox 900 E.
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ISBN 1-85312-911-9

436 .strl<cnlrps( j7&r .SIIOCLand II?Z,LMC{ I II

The three steels have significantly different yield strengths, but exhibit similar
strain hardening, strain rate hardening and temperature softening. The fracture
strain depends markedly on the stress triaxiality of the stress state, and this effect
seems to be more distinct for Weldox 700 E and Weldox 900 E than for Weldox
460 E. For temperatures below 200-300 “C the fracture strain is not significantly
dependent on the temperature due to blue brittleness, while for higher
temperatures the ductility increases. The fracture strain seems not to be
particularly affected by the strain rate, but there is large scatter in these data.

References

[1] B@rvik, T., Ballistic penetration and perforation of steel plates. Dr.ing.
thesis, 2000:124, SIMLab, Department of Structural Engingeering, NTNU,
Trondheim, 2000.
[2] Material data sheets distributed by the fabricator of Weldox: SSAB
Oxelosund.
[3] Clausen, A.H., Dey, S., Hopperstad, 0.S. & B@rvik, T., Uniaxial tensile
tests on Weldox steels at different strain rates. Technical report, R-5-01,
SIMLab, Department of Structural Engineering, NTNU, Trondheim, 2001.
[4] Clausen, A.H., Dey, S., Hopperstad, 0,S. & B@vik, T., Split-Hopkinson bar
testing of Weldox 460E steels. Technical report, SIMLab, Department of
Structural Engineering, NTNU, in preparation 2001.
[5] B@rvik,T,, Hopperstad, 0, S., Berstad, T. & Langseth, M., A computational
model of viscoplasticity and ductile damage for impact and penetration.
European Journal of Mechanics A/Solids, 20, pp. 685-712,2001.
[6] Dieter, G.E., Mechanical Metallurgy, McGraw-Hill Book Co: London,
1988,
[7] Hill, R., The Mathematical Theory of Plasticity, Oxford University Press:
UK, 1950.
[8] Johnson, G.R. & Cook, W .H., A constitutive model and data for metals
subjected to large strains, high strain rates and high temperatures. Proc. of
the ?h International Symposium on Ballistics, The Hague, pp. 541-547,
1983,
[9] Camacho, G.T. & Ortiz, M., Adaptive Lagrangian modelling of ballistic
penetration of metallic targets. International Journal of Computer Methods
in Applied kfechanics and Engineering, 142, pp. 269-301, 1997.
[10] Johnson, G.R. & Cook, W.H., Fracture characteristics of three metals
subjected to various strains, strain rates, temperatures and pressures.
Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 21(1), pp. 31-48, 1985.
[11] Le Roy, G., Embury, G.E. & Ashby, M.F., A model of ductile fracture
based on the nucleation and growth of voids. Acts A4etallurgica, 29, pp.
1509-1522, 1981.