A Study on the Formability of IF and Plain Carbon Mild Steels Available to Purchase

Steel sheet metals are widely used in different industries due to their high strength, good weldability, availability, moderate cost, and the ability to form to complex 3D parts. The study of the formability of sheet metals is often done by means of Forming Limit Diagram (FLD) which presents the major and minor engineering strain thresholds under different deformation states. In this article, the formability parameters of three different steel sheet metals with the same thickness have been determined by uniaxial tension test and their FLDs have been produced by Hecker method: RRSt14O3, Zinc coated IF (Interstitial Free) steel and uncoated IF steel. Also the materials’ formability during the stamping process of a car door inner panel has been investigated as a case study to substitute the original design of raw material, coated IF steel, with a cheaper alternative. Among the tested materials to form the part, the uniaxial tension results showed that the formability parameters of uncoated IF steel was higher than the coated IF steel and the parameters of RRSt14O3 sheet metal was the lowest. The FLD of coated IF steel sheet was the highest (best formability). Differences among the formability parameters in uniaxial tension, the FLDs, and the stamping behavior of the part with different steel sheet metals have been explained by their surface roughnesses and the friction coefficients that affect the material flow during the FLD test as well as the stamping process.