Abstract

Air bending is a widely used method for forming ultra-high strength steels (UHSS). However, the limited formability of UHSS poses some challenges for the bending process in the form of strain localisation, surface defects, punch detachment (multi-breakage) and pseudo-polygonal “nut-like” shape of the bend. In this study, the bendability of three UHSS grades (700, 900 and 1100 MPa) is investigated with 3-point bending tests, utilising Digital Image Correlation (DIC) for measuring the strain distributions on the outer curvature. The differences in the extent of multi-breakage and the bend shapes are also studied, and these observations are correlated with the findings from the bending force and strain measurements. The differences between the investigated UHSS grades are significant. The 900 MPa grade produces more localised strain distributions and pronounced multi-breakage compared to the other grades, along with a more polygonal “nut-like” geometry. The reasons and effects of the multi-breakage phenomenon, as well as the causes for the observed differences in the behaviour of the materials are discussed in this paper. The presented results and the measurement data provide more information about the behaviour of the investigated materials in bending, and can be used for improving bending simulation, numerical models, and workshop instructions.