Investigation into the Deep Drawability of 0.1%C Eutectoid Steel

Abstract

The phenomenon of anisotropism in most rolled products necessitates that the rolling direction that enhances desirable mechanical property is established. In this paper, the comparative deep drawability of as-received and annealed mild steel containing about 0.1%C was investigated. The flat steel sample was divided into two and classified as as-received and heat treated respectively. The heat treated sample was obtained by annealing at 950°C after been soaked for 5 hours and deep drawn at ambient temperatures (35°C - 42°C). From both samples, circular specimens were machine- blanked parallel to the rolling directions inclined at 0°, 45° and 90° respectively and were prepared for deep drawability test while rectangular specimens were prepared for tensile test. Both specimens, as-received and annealed were then sub- jected to tensile, cupping and microstructural analyses. Results show that the contribution to increased formability at 90° rolling direction seems to have come from the spheroid-like pearlite grains induced during annealing while the sta- bility of spread observed was achieved through a modest increase in strength. Thus, the resistance of annealed eutectoid steel to cupping is quite minimal at 90° to the rolling direction. The desirable drawability characteristics developed by the annealed eutectoid steel specimen are: cup-height, 30 mm maximum and ear, 6.4% maximum.