Prediction of 6061-T6 Aluminum Fracture Behavior Using the Extended GTN Criterion

In this paper, fracture prediction accuracy was evaluated by the GTN ductile fracture criterion and the effect of its evolution. To investigate the stress states, three calibration tests, including uniaxial tension, plane strain tension, and In-plane shear tension, were used to calibrate the failure criterion and determine the accuracy of fracture prediction. For simulation of the fracture behavior in Aluminum 6061-T6, the GTN ductile fracture criterion was calibrated using the combined experimental-simulation method. ABAQUS software was used to simulate the forming process, and fracture criteria were implemented to the software by the VUMAT subroutine. The force-displacement values and the fracture displacement in the experimental tests were used to validate the numerical results and evaluate the fracture criterion accuracy. According to the results, calibration using uniaxial tension and In-plane shear tension tests predicts failure with an average error of 6.17%. While the original GTN criterion cannot predict the fracture of the In-plane shear tension test, the error value in the plane strain tension test reaches 24%. A U- bending test was performed to investigate the fracture behavior of Aluminium 6061-T6 sheets and validate the calibrated fracture criterion in a more complex process other than tension tests. The Extended GTN criterion was found to predict the onset of fracture in the U-bending process with an error of 3%.