Improvement of the Arcan Setup for the Investigation of Thin Sheet Behavior Under Shear Loading

Background Accurate predictions of thin sheet material springback during forming processes are of great interest in the forming industry. However, thin sheets are susceptible to buckling under shear loading. Objective The present research aims at improving the so-called Arcan setup for testing thin (1-5 mm) sheet samples with large gauge areas (i.e., width about 21 mm) by introducing anti-buckling devices to mitigate sample buckling. Method Three monotonic and one cyclic shear tests were carried out on 1 mm thick C60 high carbon steel. Results The use of the proposed anti-buckling device resulted in the suppression of sample buckling. Numerical analyses of the experiment where buckling was eliminated revealed predominant shear stress states in the gauge area (i.e., stress triaxiality = 0), which highlights minor influences of the anti-buckling device on the sample stress state. Conclusion To suppress buckling, the use of anti-buckling devices was essential. Moreover, the friction coefficient between the sample and the proposed devices was calibrated (mu = 0.33) in addition to kinematic hardening parameters.