Constitutive model based on dislocation density and ductile fracture of Monel 400 thin sheet under tension

In micro-scaled plastic deformation, material strength and ductile fracture behaviors of thin sheet in tension are quite different from those in macro-scale. In this study, uniaxial tensile tests of Monel 400 thin sheets with different microstructures were carried out to investigate the plastic deformation size effect in micro-scale. The experimental results indicate that the flow stress and fracture strain departure from the traditional empirical formula when there are only fewer grains across the thickness. And the number of dimples on the fracture surface is getting smaller with the decreasing ratio of specimen thickness to grain size. Then, a constitutive model based on dislocation density considering the free surface effect in micro-scale is proposed to reveal the mechanism of the flow stress size effect. In addition, a model is proposed considering the surface roughening inducing the thickness nonuniform and the decrease of micro-voids resulting from the reduction of grain boundary density with the decreasing ratio of specimen thickness to grain size. The interactive effects of the surface roughening and the decrease of micro-voids result in the earlier fracture in micro tension of the specimen with fewer grains across the thickness.