Influence of a tensile pre-strain on bending of aluminium alloy

The mechanical behavior of thin sheets of aluminium alloy 6016, of thickness 1.14 mm, was investigated in unconstrained bending, with or without a tensile pre-strain. In the case of bending without pre-strain, no rupture was observed. Therefore, a tensile pre-strain, ranging from 0.19 up to 0.45 (longitudinal strain), was applied prior to bending. The highest pre-strain values were reached within the necking area. Tensile tests on rectangular samples were performed, then reduced samples were cut out and submitted to bending. A Digital Image Correlation (DIC) system was used to measure the maximum local strains reached during both tests. The evolution of the applied load on the bending tool versus its displacement showed that a rupture in bending was obtained for tensile pre-strains higher than 0.25, as evidenced by a load drop. These results showed that very high strains can be reached in bending, which is consistent with previously obtained numerical results.