Adewole

Research

Determination of the Appropriate Plasticity Hardening Model for the Simulation of the Reverse Bending and Straightening of Wires for Civil Engineering Applications

Article June 1, 2013

The industry requires an understanding of the effects of reverse bending and straightening test wires for civil engineering applications undergo to detect laminations in them on their tensile properties. In this paper, the identification of the appropriate plasticity hardening model for the simulation of wires reverse bending and straightening test which involves “double” strain reversal is presented. Finite element simulations revealed that the isotropic hardening model predicted a continuous work hardening of the wire during the bending, reverse bending, and straightening operations and did not capture the softening of the wire due to the Bauschinger effect. Conversely, the combined hardening model adequately captured both the work hardening and Bauschinger effect that are associated with the reverse bending and straightening processes. Consequently, it is demonstrated that the combined hardening model is the appropriate plasticity hardening model for the simulation of reverse bending and straightening of carbon steel wires used for civil engineering applications. This paper thus established the appropriate plasticity hardening model required for the FE simulation of the wires’ reverse bending and straightening test needed to investigate the effects of reverse bending and straightening test on the tensile and fracture properties of a typical wire used for civil engineering applications.

Identification of Appropriate Micromechanical Fracture Model for Predicting Fracture Performance of Steel Wires for Civil Engineering Applications

Article June 1, 2013

The fracture performance of steel wires for civil engineering applications remains a major concern in civil engineering construction and maintenance of wire reinforced structures. The need to employ approaches that simulate micromechanical material processes which characterizes fracture in civil structures has been emphasised recently in the literature. However, choosing from the numerous micromechanics-based fracture models, and identifying their applicability and reliability remains an issue that still needs to be addressed in a greater depth. Laboratory tensile testing and finite element tensile testing simulations with the shear, ductile and Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman’s micromechanicsbased models conducted in this work reveal that the shear fracture model is an appropriate fracture model to predict the fracture performance of steel wires used for civil engineering applications. The need to consider the capability of the micromechanics-based fracture model to predict the “cup and cone” fracture exhibited by the wire in choosing the appropriate fracture model is demonstrated