Experimental Study on the Mechanical Behavior of EN08 Steel at Different Temperatures and Strain Rates

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the mechanical response of EN08 steel at quasi-static and dynamic strain rates. Uniaxial tensile tests under quasi-static regime (from 0.0015 s−1 to 0.15 s−1) are conducted on EN08 steel at a range of temperatures between 298 K and 923 K. Dynamic compression tests are also performed by using a drop hammer and by considering different masses and heights to study the material response at strain rates up to 800 s−1. Through the stress-strain responses of EN08 steel, a strong dependency of the yield stress as well as the ultimate strength on the strain rate and temperature is recognized. Furthermore, the strain hardening is highly affected by the increase of temperature at all levels of strain rate. The microstructure of the steel is also examined at a fracture by using SEM images to quantify the density of microdefects and define the damage evolution by using an energy-based damage model.