An Effective Formability Model of Pearlitic Steel Wires in Multi-stage Drawing Process Based on the Stress-Based Forming Limit Criterion

Multi-stage drawing is a widely used industrial process for controlling the dimensions and properties of steel wires. Previous studies have attempted to predict the mechanical properties of steel based on the finite element method (FEM); however, simulating multi-stage drawing when the number of stages exceeds 20 involves a substantial computational cost. This study presents an effective analytical model for predicting the formability of pearlitic steel wires in a multi-stage drawing process. First, an experimental investigation is presented to show that the reduction of area (RA) is more suitable than tensile elongation for defining the formability of cold-drawn wires. An analytical model is then proposed to predict the RA based on the stress-based forming limit criterion. For the formability model, a flow stress model covering two different hardening behaviors is also proposed. This formability model was validated using experimental data obtained from three materials. The discussion shows that the proposed analytical models can predict the mechanical properties and formability of pearlitic steel wires based on the stress-based forming limit criterion.