Hole Expansion Testing

The term local formability describes when part and process design, in addition to sheet metal properties like strength and elongation, influence the amount of deformation the metal can undergo prior to failure.  Cutting, punching or other methods of obtaining a trimmed blank or an internal hole results in cracks, rough edges, work-hardening and other edge damage – all of which influences edge quality. The challenges of capturing all of the factors that influence edge quality makes the prediction of fracture severity and cut edge expansion very difficult and usually impossible.  The many variables highlight the need for a standardized test method.  However, restricted sample preparation and testing variables in these standards do not reflect the variety of conditions encountered in production environments.  Use caution when comparing results generated under different conditions.

Hole Expansion Testing

The Hole Expansion test (HET) quantifies the edge stretching capability of a sheet metal grade having a specific edge condition. Higher values of the hole expansion ratio are associated with grades and forming methods more likely to have improved local formability characteristics.

Steel producers study hole expansion capacity to create new products with targeted edge stretching performance through modifications of chemistry, rolling and thermal practices.  Product designers use the hole expansion test to determine if the chosen steel grade has the inherent forming characteristics to meet their targeted shape with their chosen forming system. If they are not compatible, the chosen grade must change or aspects of the forming process must change, or possibly both.

ISO 16630 is the primary standard used which describes the test method and constraints.^I-9  Others, like JIS Z 2256^J-6 are based on the ISO standard, with only minor differences, if any.  This standard specifies use of a 10mm diameter hole created with a 12% clearance. The sample containing the hole is clamped in place, and a conical punch having a 60 degree apex angle expands that initial hole (Figure 1).  The test stops after observation of a through-thickness crack or upon experiencing a load-drop exceeding a critical threshold (Figure 2).  The hole expansion ratio (HER), also known as the Hole Expansion Capacity (HEC), is simply the percent expansion of the diameter of the initial hole, typically shown as the Greek letter lambda, λ.

The sample preparation and testing requirements of ISO 16630 are well-defined for good reason.  Factors known to influence the hole expansion ratio include:

• Sheet metal grade (microstructure)
• Sheet metal strength
• Process to create the edge (shear, laser, water-jet, etc.)
• Punch/die clearance used in blanking
• Edge quality of the hole
• Hole diameter
• Position of the burr with respect to punch
• Punch shape: conical vs hemispherical vs flat
• Method used to finish the hole (blanking, reaming, etc.)

Testing sheet steels of different thicknesses in a laboratory setting requires having multiple punches and/or dies of different diameter to maintain a consistent clearance, which is based on a percentage of the sheet thickness tested.

In production, the punch-to-die clearance can change during the life of the part, both from tooling wear as well as press misalignment.  There is the additional risk that clearance can vary around the perimeter of the cut section, leading to inconsistent performance. Increasing sheet metal strength magnifies this issue.

The method used to create the free edge influences the edge quality. Improved edge quality and reduced mechanical work hardening of the edge is achieved by laser cutting, EDM cutting, water jet cutting, or fine blanking processes, and will typically improve the hole expansion ratio.  Trim steel clearances, shear angles, tool steel types, and sharpness also impact hole expansion test results.

In the example shown in Figure 3, the hole expansion ratio is reduced from 280% for a milled or water jet edge down to 80% for a traditional cut edge. If clearances further increase – which could happen without proper tooling maintenance over the life of the part – the ability to expand a cut edge further decreases.

Figure 4 highlights the effect of punched vs machined holes, showing the edge damage from punching lowers the hole expansion capability.  This edge damage becomes a key component of what is known as the Shear Affected Zone, or SAZ.  DP steels and TRIP steels have a large hardness difference between the constituent phases, and therefore are associated with lower hole expansion ratios than HSLA and CP steels, where the phases are of more similar hardness.  The influence of the metallurgical phase hardness difference is explored here.  Detailed studies of sheared edge stretchability as a function of clearance, edge preparation, and grade are shown in Citations K-6 and K-10.

Over time, the targeted edge quality degrades and targeted clearance changes without proper attention.  A study documented in Citation C-1 evaluated the hole expansion ratio created by hole punching tools as they wore in a production environment. Tools evaluated were made from 60 HRC uncoated Powder Metallurgy tool steels. Data in Figure 5 show the percent hole expansion from newly ground punches and dies (Sharp Tools) and from used production punches and dies (Worn Tools). The radial clearance was 0.1 mm.  A rust preventative oil was applied to the steels during the punching; a lubricant oil was applied during hole expansion.  Tool wear and possible micro-chipping resulted in a poor edge condition. The clearance was not significantly affected, but the steel edges suffered cold work which dramatically affected their hole expansion results.

Conclusions from Citation C-1 include:

• The best quality edge condition will produce the best results
• Tooling must remain sharp and damage-free to maintain the consistency in edge conditions.
• The burr should be in contact with the punch rather than on the freely-expanding side
• Hard and wear resistant tools, such as those produced from coated powder metallurgy (PM) tool steels, are highly recommended.

Additional information on tool materials can be found here and other articles in that category.

The ISO 16630 specification^I-9 eliminates one variable by prescribing the use of a 10 mm diameter hole, but it is important to understand that starting hole diameter influences the degree to which that hole can be expanded. A study that included mild steels to AHSS grades evaluated the effect of starting hole diameter.^I-10  All steels were 1.2mm, punched with a clearance of 12.5%, and expanded with a conical punch having a 60° apex angle. As the starting diameter increases, the degree to which the hole can be expanded decreases, Figure 6. Note that as the strength increases, this effect appears to be minimized.

Increasing the starting hole diameter may help to distinguish between different grades.^K-11  Similar hole expansion performance exists between DP980 and TRIP780 under ISO 16630 test conditions (punched 10 mm hole).  It is easier to discern better performance in the TRIP780 product when performing a similar test with a 75 mm diameter punched hole (Figure 7).

The position of the burr relative to the punch affects performance in a hole expansion test.  Detrimental effects of an expanding edge are minimized If the burr is on the punch side. Having the burr on the punch side, rather than the freely expanding side, minimizes the detrimental effects of the expanding edge. The primary reason is the outer surface is in a greater degree of tension than the surface next to the punch.

Figure 8 examines the effect of edge condition and clearance on DP 590 expanded with a conical punch.^K-10  The data suggests that there could be up to a 20% increase in sheared edge extension capability just related to the burr position on holes punched with conventional clearances. This should be considered in die processing materials and designs sensitive to edge expansion.

Shown in Figure 9 is the influence of burr orientation and material grade.^K-10  The 50XK grade shown is HSLA 350Y/450T, where there is a significant improvement in the measured hole expansion related to the position of the burr relative to the punch. The magnitude of this difference decreases as strength increases, but persists for all grades tested.

The shape of the punch used to expand the hole impacts the degree to which it can be expanded.  Figure 10 shows generalizations of the three most-common shapes: a conical punch, a flat punch, and a hemispherical punch.

Metal motion and appearance changes depending on the type of punch used. Using a conical punch leads to the shape shown in Figure 11a, with a flat punch leading to the appearance shown in Figure 11b.^S-3  The operations are sometimes described as hole expansion when accomplished with a conical punch, and hole extrusion with use of a flat punch.

The ISO 16630 hole expansion test specifies the use of a conical punch with a 60 degree apex angle.  Here, the free edge undergoes stretching and bending.  Using a flat punch instead of a conical punch eliminates the bending component, and all deformation is from only edge stretching.  These strain state differences lead to different sheared edge extension performance, with greater expansion prior to cracking achieved with holes expanded using a conical punch. This improved performance with conical rather than flat punches has been attributed to the presence of the bending component.^N-10 Edge condition does not appear to influence hole expansion capability when a flat bottom punch is used.

Shown in Figures 12 to Figure 15 are the effects of burr orientation and punch type, which vary as a function of metal grade. Figure 16 compares the performance of reamed holes when expanded with either conical or flat punches.  Where the tested grades perform similarly when expanded with a flat punch, the conical punch leads to exceptional performance of reamed holes of 3 of the 4 grades. The relatively poor performance of the DP780 grade may be due to the hardness differences between the ferrite and martensite components, noting that there is more martensite in DP780 than DP 600.  In the study from which the data was taken, the complex phase steels had a yield/tensile ratio of approximately 87%, while for the dual phase grades the yield/tensile ratio was approximately 60%.^P-13

Figure 17 compares the simulation results from expanding a perfect edge (no burr, no strain) with a conical punch on the left and a spherical punch on the right.^W-2  The color scale, based on a “damage” parameter, shows that a spherical punch results in a more uniform distribution of damage, especially at the edge. This suggests that the impact of burr orientation on hole expansion is less significant for this punch geometry.

Flanging with a conical punch causes high circumferential strain and high damage values at the outer edge. The inner edge of the sheet initially presses against the punch, and later stretches during flanging. Since cracks initiate at the fracture zone, using a conical punch with the burr facing the punch leads to a greater hole expansion capability than when having the burr in contact with a spherical punch.

Fracture initiates at the edge, and orienting the burr so that it is in contact with the punch leads to a greater hole expansion value.

Improving Hole Expansion with New Punch Shapes

As explained above, the degree to which a sheared edge can be stretched before fracture is a function of many parameters, including the shape of the punch.  Also contributing is the hardness uniformity of the microstructural phases, where grades with components having high hardness differences are associated with relatively lower hole expansion capability.

Researchers evaluated the effects of punch design and clearance on hole expansion capability of dual phase and ferrite-bainite steels, each with a tensile strength of approximately 780 MPa.^L-47

In addition to a conventional flat punch face, other punch types studied were those with a beveled face, a humped shape, and a newly designed punch which combines the benefits of the prior two types.  A chamfered or beveled punch is known to reduce punch forces and reverse snap-through loads, while at the same time improve edge quality and hole expansion by minimizing the hardness increases found in the shear affected zone.

Use of the humped punch (Figure 18) led to hole expansion improvements of up to 10%, compared with a conventional flat punch when testing either the DP or FB products.  When comparing the edge characteristics, the humped punch results in an increased rollover zone. The authors attributed this to the hump geometry imposing axial tension on the steel during punching, thereby increasing stress triaxiality.  Increases in stress triaxiality results in a reduction in effective stress even at the same average stress. This in turn lowers the plastic deformation at the sheared edge which minimizes edge fracture.  For these reasons, the increases in stress triaxiality associated with the humped punch promotes higher levels of hole expansion.

A newly designed punch which combines a beveled and humped design (Figure 19) increases hole expansion by more than 30% in both dual phase and ferrite-bainite steels (Figure 20). As explained above, the newly designed punch is effective in promoting stress triaxiality and minimizing the plastic deformation near the sheared edge. Furthermore, the beveled design improves the shear affected zone (SAZ) characteristics, leading to improved sheared edge expandability as measured in a hole expansion test.

Correlation of Hole Expansion Ratio with Tensile Properties

The complexities of hole expansion testing, as well as relatively few laboratories with the necessary test equipment and expertise, have led researchers to look for a correlation between the hole expansion ratio and conventionally measured properties obtained from a tensile test like the yield and tensile strength, uniform and total elongation, n-value, and r-value.  Researchers even studied manipulations such as the yield-to-tensile ratio, tensile strength multiplied by uniform elongation, and n-value multiplied by r-value.  Unfortunately, none of these properties or combinations have suitable correlation with the hole expansion ratio.

Recent work has shown a promising correlation between the hole expansion ratio and the true thinning strain at fracture. Our article on true fracture strain, describes this in greater detail.