New methodology for the characterization of failure by fracture in bulk forming

This article is focused on the formability limits by fracture obtained from standard bulk metal forming tests performed with cylindrical, tapered and flanged specimens. A total of two novel features are presented: the use of digital image correlation to determine strain paths and immersion of steel specimens in liquid nitrogen after the onset of crack formation to reveal the mode of fracture. A new methodology to determine the fracture loci in principal strain space is proposed based on the combination of experimental force–displacement evolutions with in-plane strain measurements. The experimental work is performed in cold-drawn steel AISI 1045 and two new formability tests with different values of stress triaxiality are proposed for obtaining strains at fracture in regions of principal strain space that are not sufficiently well covered by standard bulk metal forming tests.