Kinematic Hardening: Characterization, Modeling and Impact on Springback Prediction

The constitutive modeling of the materials' mechanical behavior, usually carried out using a phenomenological constitutive model, i.e., a yield criterion associated to the isotropic and kinematic hardening laws, is of paramount importance in the FEM simulation of the sheet metal forming processes, as well as in the springback prediction. Among others, the kinematic behavior of the yield surface plays an essential role, since it is indispensable to describe the Bauschinger effect, i.e., the materials' answer to the multiple tension-compression cycles to which material points are submitted during the forming process. Several laws are usually used to model and describe the kinematic hardening, namely: a) the Prager's law, which describes a linear evolution of the kinematic hardening with the plastic strain rate tensor b) the Frederick-Armstrong non-linear kinematic hardening, basically a non-linear law with saturation; and c) a more advanced physically-based law, similar to the previous one but sensitive to the strain path changes. In the present paper a mixed kinematic hardening law (linear + non-linear behavior) is proposed and its implementation into a static fully-implicit FE code is described. The material parameters identification for sheet metals using different strategies, and the classical Bauschinger loading tests (i.e. in-plane forward and reverse monotonic loading), are addressed, and their impact on springback prediction evaluated. Some numerical results concerning the springback prediction of the Numisheet'05 Benchmark no. 3 are briefly presented to emphasize the importance of a correct modeling and identification of the kinematic hardening behavior