Predictive capabilities of micromechanical and phenomenological damage models in tension, shear and bending failure for advanced high-strength steels

Abstract

This study evaluates the predictive capabilities of micromechanical and phenomenological damage models in simulating ductile failure in advanced high-strength steels under tension, shear, and bending. Two modeling approaches were implemented: a modified Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman-Shear micromechanical model that couples shear damage with void evolution, and a GISSMO model with a Hosford-Coulomb failure criterion for phenomenological modeling. The failure models were calibrated using experimental data from shear, bending, and biaxial tension across three steel grades—dual-phase, complex-phase, and martensitic steels—with ultimate tensile strengths ranging from 980 MPa to 1500 MPa. For steels with the highest bendability, the micromechanical model exhibited contradictory behavior between plane strain tension and bending, while the Hosford-Coulomb model could not be directly applied due to its high bending failure strain. For steels with the lowest bendability, the softening behavior proved problematic because of the very low bending failure strain. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd