Experimental Evaluation of Temperature and Strain-Rate-Dependent Mechanical Properties of Austenitic Stainless Steel SS316LN and a New Methodology to Evaluate Parameters of Johnson-Cook and Ramberg-Osgood Material Models

Austenitic stainless steel SS316LN is used as the material of construction of vessel and core components of fast breeder reactors, which operate at an elevated temperature of 550 deg. C. For design and integrity analysis using finite element method, material models, such as Johnson-Cook and Ramberg-Osgood, are widely used. However, the temperature-, strain-rate dependent plasticity and damage parameters of these models for this material are not available in literature. Moreover, the method of evaluation of temperature and strain-rate dependent plasticity parameter in literature has some major shortcomings, which have been addressed in this work. In addition, a new optimization based procedure has been developed to evaluate all the nine plasticity and damage parameters, which uses results of combined finite element analysis and experimental data. The procedure has been validated extensively by testing tensile specimens at different temperatures, by testing notched tensile specimens of different notch radii and by carrying out high strain-rate tests using split Hopkinson pressure bar test setup. The parameters of Johnson-Cook material model, evaluated in this work, have been used in finite element analysis to simulate load-displacement behavior and fracture strains of all types of specimens and the results have been compared with experimental data in order to check the accuracy of the parameters. This procedure developed in this work shall help the researchers to adopt such technique for accurate estimation of both plasticity and damage parameters of different types of material models.