Tensile and work hardening properties of low carbon dual phase strip steels at high strain rates

As a result of their unique combination of strength and ductility dual phase steels play an important role in reducing weight in automobile components and improving crashworthiness. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the crash performance of dual phase steels, as defined by the influence of low and high strain deformation rates (0·001 s -1 and 100 s -1 respectively), on the tensile and work hardening properties of a range of commercial dual phase products. The objective is to establish whether dual phase steels maintain their desirable mechanical property characteristics of low yield strength, high tensile strength and high work hardening rates during plastic deformation under the application of a high strain rate loading. The results confirmed that the yield/proof strength and tensile strength increased with increasing volume fraction of second phase constituents and increasing strain rate. In particular, a dual phase steel with a microstructure consisting of a significant volume fraction (>10-15%) of additional second phase material (bainite) is shown to display superior energy absorption properties. However, this is accompanied by poor ductility and work hardening characteristics.