An evaluation of simple techniques to model the variation in strain hardening behavior of steel

It is important to consider variations in material parameters in the design of automotive structures in order to obtain a robust and reliable design. However, expensive tests are required to gain complete knowledge of the material behavior and its associated variation. Consequently, due to time and cost constraints, simplified material scatter modeling techniques based on scatter data of typical material properties provided by the material suppliers are used at early design stages in simulation-based robustness studies. The aim of this paper is to study the accuracy of the simplified scatter modeling methods in representing the real material variation. The simplified scatter modeling methods are evaluated by comparing the material scatter obtained by them to the scatter obtained by complete tensile tests, which are obtained after detailed time-consuming experimental investigations. Furthermore, an accuracy assessment is carried out based on selected responses from an axially-crushed, square tube made from DP600 steel.