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Tensile and fracture behaviour of very thin 304 stainless steel sheet

Article  in  Jurnal Teknologi · June 2016

DOI: 10.11113/jt.v78.9146

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Ammar Adil Al-Bakri Zainuddin Sajuri

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Article history
TENSILE AND FRACTURE BEHAVIOUR OF Received
18 December 2015
VERY THIN 304 STAINLESS STEEL SHEET Received in revised form
10 March 2016
Ammar Adil Al-Bakria,b*, Zainuddin Sajuria,d, Ahmad Kamal Accepted
25 April 2016
Ariffina,d, Mohammed Abdul Razzaqc, Mohd Salehudin Fafmina

aDepartment *Corresponding author

of Mechanical and Materials Engineering,
[email protected]
Faculty of Engineering & Built Environment, 43600 UKM Bangi,
.edu.my
Selangor, Malaysia
bDepartment of Machinery and Equipment Engineering

Techniques, Technical College Al-Musaib, Al-Furat Al-Awsat

Technical University, Iraq
cMechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering,

Alqadisiyia University, Iraq

dCentre for Automotive Research, Faculty of Engineering and

Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM

Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Abstract
Specimen with rectangular cross-section usually used to measure the tensile properties of materials. However, the specimen
size and thickness may affect the results. In this study, tensile and fracture behaviours of very thin 304 stainless steel sheet were
investigated. The thickness of the stainless steel sheets investigated were 100 and 300 µm. Tensile samples were cut into
dumbbell-shaped of rectangular cross-section with same width for both thickness according to ASTM E8. The results showed
that 100 µm thin steel sheet exhibited higher tensile strength with no clear evidence of yielding as compared to 300 µm sheet.
The fracture morphology images observed by scanning electron microscopy revealed that both specimens fracture in ductile
mode. Formation of dimples on the fracture surface could be recognized easily in 300 µm sample at higher magnification as
compared to 100 µm sample.

Keywords: Thin sheet; tensile test; fracture behaviour; 304 stainless steel

Abstrak

Secara umumnya, spesimen dengan keratan rentas segi empat tepat biasanya digunakan untuk mengukur sifat tegangan
sesuatu bahan. Walau bagaimanapun, saiz spesimen dan ketebalan boleh mempengaruhi keputusan. Dalam kajian ini, sifat
tegangan dan kepatahan kepingan keluli tahan karat 304 yang sangat nipis telah disiasat. Ketebalan kepingan keluli tahan
karat dikaji adalah 100 dan 300 mikron. Sampel tegangan telah dipotong kepada bentuk dumbbell berkeratan rentas segi
empat tepat dengan lebar yang sama menurut ASTM E8. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa kepingan keluli nipis 100 mikron
mempamerkan kekuatan tegangan yang lebih tinggi dan tiada kesan alahan jelas berbanding kepingan 300 mikron. Imej-
imej permukaan patah yang diperhatikan melalui mikroskopi imbasan elektron menunjukkan bahawa kedua-dua spesimen
patah dalam mod mulur. Pembentukan lubang-lesung kecil di permukaan patah dapat dikesan dengan mudah pada
sampel 300 mikron berbanding sampel 100 mikron pada pembesaran yang tinggi.

Kata kunci: Kepingan nipis; ujian tegangan; sifat kepatahan; Keluli tahan karat 304

© 2016 Penerbit UTM Press. All rights reserved

78: 6–9 (2016) 45–50 | www.jurnalteknologi.utm.my | eISSN 2180–3722 |

46 Ammar Adil Al-Bakri et al. / JurnalTeknologi (Sciences & Engineering) 78: 6–9 (2016) 45–50

1.0 INTRODUCTION Table 1 Chemical composition (wt.%)

C Mn F S Si Cr Ni
Stainless steel is widely used in many industries in line
with technological developments. Properties of stainless 0.08 2.00 0.045 0.03 1.0 18.0-20.0 8.0-11.0
steel make it suitable as components in many
application such as chemical industries, automotive,
electronic devices, medical applications etc. The ability
of stainless steel to withstand high stress value and to
operate at high temperatures allows it to become
widely used. In recent years, the market demand at the
micro level such as pin connector, micro screws, springs,
IC sockets, micro gears and micro shaft so has
increased significantly as a result of the downsizing of Unit: mm
the product. The fact that material properties change
with specimen size has been well known for several Figure 1 Tensile specimen size and configuration
years [1-2].
Miniaturization technology has become more (a)
important in the fabrication of micro parts. When the
size is decrease to the microscale, changes occur in the
mechanical behaviour of materials and the effects is
called size effect [3]. Effect of size is characterized by
grain size, the dimension of the specimen and the size
of the surface topography. Materials will demonstrate it
mechanical properties such as modulus of elasticity,
tensile strength, elongation, hardness and fatigue limit
[4] and expose the elastic and non-elastic behaviours
when forces is applied, thereby indicate its suitability for
mechanical applications. The tensile test is one method 20mm
of evaluating the structural response of steel to the (a) Microstructures of 304 stainless steel sheet of thickness
applied force, with the result expressed as a relationship 100 µm
between stress and strain.
In the last four decades, the car body thickness has (b)
reduced significantly from almost 1.5 mm to below 0.5
mm. This was mainly due to the demand for weight
reduction for saving more fuel cost. Besides being
thinner, maintaining the high strength of car body was
possible by using a newly developed very thin steel
sheet. However, mechanical properties of bulk
materials which usually tested using a standard big size
sample are not necessarily representing the actual
properties of the material when dealing with very thin
and small size components. This drives the research on
mechanical properties of the micro-sized specimen for 20mm
the production of tiny metal-based components.
In this study, mechanical properties i.e. Young’s (b) Microstructures of 304 stainless steel sheet of thickness
300 µm
modulus, yield stress, ultimate tensile strength and
elongation, and fracture behaviour of very thin 304
Figure 2 Microstructures of 304 stainless steel sheet after
stainless steel sheet using rectangular cross-section annealed of thickness (a) 100 µm and (b) 300 µm
specimens of two different thicknesses with same width
according to ASTM E8 were investigated.
The width and length of gauge area were 5 and 28 mm,
respectively. Tensile test was performed by using a zwick
2.0 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES roell Z100 universal testing machine of 100kN capacity.
Three samples indicated as A, B and C with a thickness
The material used in this study was very thin 304 stainless of 100 and 300 µm were strained at a 1x10-3 sec-1 until
steel sheets. The thin sheet thickness was 100 and 300 fracture. The obtained stress-strain curves were then
µm. The chemical compositions of the material (wt. %) analysed to identify the young’s modulus, yield stress,
are listed in Table 1. Sample for tensile test were ultimate tensile strength and total elongation. Before
machined from 100 and 300 µm sheets into a dumbbell- the tensile test, all samples were process annealed at
shaped as shown in Figure 1 by using an electrical 700oC to relieve stresses due to cold working and EDM
discharge machining (EDM) wire cut. cutting process. Samples were ground using emery
47 Ammar Adil Al-Bakri et al. / JurnalTeknologi (Sciences & Engineering) 78: 6–9 (2016) 45–50

papers and polished using buff clothes with 1 µm level up to about 5% strain. Load increment is then
diamond suspension before etched to reveal the followed by increasing strain. The strain hardening in 300
microstructure. The microstructures of the 100 and 300 µm specimen was more significant than that in 100 µm
µm thin sheets are shown in Figure 2(a), Figure 2(b). The specimen.
grain size of the samples were about 20-25 µm. All Base on the results obtained, both 100 and 300 µm
fracture surfaces of tensile samples were then observed thickness samples exhibited different proportional limit
using scanning electron microscope (SEM). stresses. The thinner sample shows higher proportional
limit stress compared to thicker sample. It is suggested
that the proportional limit of very thin sheet is thickness
3.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION dependence for the thickness range tested. According
to Geers et al. and Shabani et al., dislocation slip in the
3.1 Tensile Properties grains is one of the dominant plastic deformation
mechanisms for polycrystalline metals [5-6]. This means
The stress–strain curves for 100 and 300 µm of 304 that in a very thin sample, dislocation can either be
stainless steel sheet are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4, blocked by the grain boundary or glide out the surface
respectively. And the summary of the tensile properties of the sample. It is known that all grains in the interior of
are listed in Table 2 and Table 3, respectively. Three samples deform homogeneously. However, the grains
samples were tested for each thickness condition and close to the sample surface are less constrained by the
labelled with A, B and C in each figure. The physical surrounding grains, and less dislocation can
behaviour of the specimen was observed from initial accumulate in surface grains, as compared to interior
loading until specimen failure. In the initial stage, both grains. Therefore, for 100 µm thin sample, lower strain
samples of different thickness loaded in the elastic hardening and lower flow stress were observed after
range until reached the elastic limit. After the elastic yielding. It is also reported that the elongation to failure
limit, both samples behave differently. The 100 µm and strain-hardening rate will increase with increasing
specimen did not exhibited a definite yield point, but thickness of specimen [7]. This is in-line with the finding
rather shows a smooth stress-strain curve from the in this study where thinner sample exhibited smaller
proportional limit to ultimate stress level as shown in elongation compared to thicker sample.
Figure 3. For 100 µm specimen, the yield stress was However, the thickness range tested did not
evaluated based on the load at 0.2% strain. Beyond this influence the ultimate tensile strength of 304 stainless
point up to the maximum point, which is the ultimate steel sheets where both samples showed identical
tensile strength, the degree of strain hardening was very value at about 1160 MPa as shown in Table 2 and Table
limited and the strain hardening finished at strain less 3. This result was similar to the result obtained by Yuan et
than 2%. After the maximum point, the stress gradually al. where they investigated the influence of specimen
decreased and specimen failed at about 9% strain thickness with rectangular cross-section on the tensile
elongation. Different tensile behaviour was observed for properties of structural steels. The small different in
300 µm specimen. The yield point can be observed tensile strength may be due to the low ratio of the
clearly and directly from the stress-strain curve as shown surface grain dimension to specimen thickness [8].
in Figure 4. Another study by Zhang et al. and Chen et al. reported
However, this yield point (786 MPa) was much lower that when the grain size is approaching the specimen
compared to the 0.2% yield stress of 100 µm specimen thickness, the grain function plays a very important role
(1023 MPa). The upper yield point in 300 µm specimen in influencing the mechanical properties of stainless
was followed by a sudden reduction in the stress to the steel [9-10].
lower yield point. At this stage, the specimen continues
to elongate without a significant change in the stress
48 Ammar Adil Al-Bakri et al. / JurnalTeknologi (Sciences & Engineering) 78: 6–9 (2016) 45–50

Figure 3 Stress-strain curves of 100 µm thickness 304 stainless steel sheet

Table 2 Tensile properties of 100 µm thickness 304 stainless steel sheet

Sample Young’s modulus (GPa) 0.2% Yield stress (MPa) Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) Elongation (%)

Sample A 205 1030 1170 9.5

Sample B 200 1020 1180 6.6
Sample C 202 1020 1140 11.3
Average 202.3 1023 1163 9.1

Figure 4 Stress-strain curves of 300 µm thickness 304 stainless steel sheet

Table 3 Tensile properties of 300 µm thickness 304 stainless steel sheet

Sample Young’s modulus (GPa) Upper yield stress (MPa) Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) Elongation (%)
Sample A 209 810 1170 27.5
Sample B 210 773 1160 25.4
Sample C 207 774 1150 26.4
Average 208.7 786 1160 26.4

3.2 Fracture Surface Analysis the failure processes, as shown in Figure 5 and Figure
6. A general phenomenon observed in both samples
Detailed fracture surface observation by scanning where necking occurs in thickness direction as shown
electron microscope are performed on the 100 and in Figure 5 (a) and Figure 6 (a).
300 µm thickness samples after tensile tests to analyse
49 Ammar Adil Al-Bakri et al. / JurnalTeknologi (Sciences & Engineering) 78: 6–9 (2016) 45–50

(a) 100 X magnification, t0= specimen thickness before (a) 100 X magnification, t1= specimen thickness before
tensile test and t= specimen thickness after tensile test tensile test and t2= specimen thickness after tensile test

(b) 2000 X magnification

(b) 2000 X magnification
Figure 5 SEM fracture surface of tensile specimens of 100 µm
Figure 6 SEM fracture surface of tensile specimens of 300 µm
thickness 304 stainless steel sheet with (a) 100 X magnification
thickness 304 stainless steel sheet with (a) 100 X magnification
and (b) 2000 X magnification
and (b) 2000 X magnification

However, the necking was more significant in thicker 4.0 CONCLUSION

sample of 300 µm. The reduction in thickness direction
can be seen from Figure 6 (a). Higher magnification Tensile and fracture behaviour of very thin 304 stainless
observation showed small tension dimples, cleavage steel were investigated. The results are summarised as
and voids on fracture surfaces of 100µm samples as follows:
shown in Figure 5 (b) and Figure 6 (b) showed small (a) Specimen thickness at the range of 100 to 300 µm
tearing with some dimples on fracture surfaces of influenced the mechanical properties of 304
300µm samples. However, 100 µm samples fracture stainless steel. Both samples showed differences in
surface was more flat with the presence of cleavage yield stress and elongation but Identical in its
pattern associated with dimples. young’s modulus and ultimate tensile strength.
And the thinner the sample the lower the degree
of strain hardening and ultimate tensile strength.
(b) Necking was found more significant in the thicker
sample. The fracture behavior showed that
reduction in the thickness direction was clearly
seen in the 300 µm as compared to that in 100 µm
sample. Fracture surface of 100 µm samples was
 50 Ammar Adil Al-Bakri et al. / JurnalTeknologi (Sciences & Engineering) 78: 6–9 (2016) 45–50

more flat with the presence of cleavage pattern Forming Of Pure Copper. Materials Science and
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Malaysia for a research grant (DIP-2014-024), UKM- [6] Shabani, M.J., Emamy, M. and Nemati, N. 2011. Effect Of
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