This chapter discusses the factors that influence the load-deformation relationship at the heart of most metal forming operations. It describes the changes that occur in tensile test samples and the various ways test data can be plotted and analyzed, particularly for design purposes. It discusses the effect of normal and planar anisotropy, the development and use of flow stress curves, and how formability is usually measured and expressed. It explains how formability measurements serve as a guide for process and tool design engineers as well as others. It also discusses the development and use of forming limit curves and the extensive amount of information they provide.

Sheet metal forming operations consist of a large family of processes, ranging from simple bending to stamping and deep drawing of complex shapes. Because sheet forming operations are so diverse in type, extent, and rate, no single test provides an accurate indication of the formability of a material in all situations. However, as discussed in this chapter, the uniaxial tensile test is one of the most widely used tests for determining sheet metal formability. This chapter describes the effect of material properties and temperature on sheet metal formability. Information on the types of formability tests is also provided. The chapter discusses the processes involved in uniaxial and plane-strain tensile testing. Examples include the uniaxial tensile test and the plane-strain tensile test which are subsequently described.

This chapter presents the composition, microstructure, processing, deformation mechanism, mechanical properties, formability, and attributes of transformation-induced plasticity steels.

Austenitic stainless steels are iron-base alloys containing more than 50% Fe, 15 to 26% Cr, and less than 45% Ni. This chapter provides a discussion on the types, compositions, microstructures, processing, deformation mechanism, mechanical properties, formability, and special attributes of austenitic stainless steels.