07/2014 - 06/2017
Tough-Sheet was the first RFCS project addressing the evaluation of fracture of thin AHSS sheets to better understand crash resistance and formability during service or forming. It demonstrated that fracture toughness, measured following the essential work of fracture (EWF) methodology, can be effectively used to classify and understand edge cracking and the impact performance, as well as other fractures related to the local ductility of AHSS and PHS. Such assertion was supported by extensive stretch-flangeability and impact tests (bending and axial) in different AHSS grades, including the most representative families of 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen AHSS as well as press hardened boron steels.
