Effect of Magnetic Field on Deformation Behavior of a Steel Sheet in Uniaxial Tension

Abstract

This paper discusses the effect of magnetic fields on the tensile properties of high-strength carbon-manganese steel sheets in uniaxial tension. An electromagnetic tool was designed and fabricated such that it produced a constant magnetic field of 0.35 T in the gauge length of a tensile specimen during testing. Experimental measurements of magnetic flux density distribution confirm the model, which is further validated with theoretical analysis. The tensile properties are examined with and without the effect of a magnetic field. A significant improvement is observed in tensile strength and normal anisotropy of the material because of the effect of the magnetic field. Samples were taken from the middle of specimens that were tested with 20 % plastic strain for microstructural investigations using the electron backscattered diffraction technique, and in all cases experiments were performed with and without the magnetic field. Geometrically necessary dislocations maps exhibiting the measure of dislocation density during plastic deformation show lesser accumulation of dislocations at the grain boundaries with the effect of the magnetic field, which indicates hindrance to the movement of dislocations as a result of the severe interaction of dislocations with the magnetic domains. The results also show an increase in grain size and the development of a weak texture for the tested specimens with the applied magnetic field as compared with the specimens tested without the magnetic field. The microstructural findings correlate with changes in the tensile properties.