Localized Necking in Elastomer-Supported Metal Layers: Impact of Kinematic Hardening

Abstract

This paper deals with localized necking in stretched metal sheets using the initial imperfection approach. The first objective is to study the effect of kinematic hardening on the formability of a freestanding metal layer. To this end, the behavior of the metal layer is assumed to follow the rigid-plastic rate-independent flow theory. The isotropic (respectively, kinematic) hardening of this metal is modeled by the Hollomon (respectively, Prager) law. A parametric study is carried out in order to investigate the effect of kinematic hardening on the formability limits. It is shown that the effect of kinematic hardening on the ductility limit is noticeably different depending on the strain path considered. The second aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of an elastomer substrate, perfectly bonded to the metal layer, on the formability of the whole bilayer. It is found that the addition of an elastomer layer substantially enhances the formability of the bilayer, in agreement with earlier studies.