Ultra-high-strength quenching and partitioning (Q&P) steels have achieved remarkable lightweight effect in automotive manufacture due to the excellent mechanical performances. However, the problem of sheared-edge cracking greatly limits their application. In this work, the damage generated in the shearing process of QP980 steel is experimentally investigated via microstructure characterization and micro-/macromechanical property evaluation. Moreover, the shearing deformation is simulated with six widely used damage models. The experimental results reveal that microvoids, microcracks, and work-hardening behavior are the main damage factors affecting the formability of sheared edges. Microvoids mainly formed at phase interfaces have a small size (≤5 μm), while microvoids generated from inclusions with a small number have a large size (>5 μm). As deformation continuously grows, microvoids distributed around the sheared surface are split into microcracks, which act as crack initiators in the subsequent forming step. Additionally, the highest microhardness in the fracture zone further enhances the susceptibility of edge cracking. Furthermore, the optimum damage model for QP980 steel was determined by developing user-defined subroutine VUSDFLD in Abaqus, which can be used in the prediction of fracture behavior of QP980 steel to reduce the risk of edge cracking.
Keywords: microvoid nucleation; sheared-edge formability; shearing process.