The design of a biaxial tensile test and its use for the validation of crystallographic yield loci

A biaxial tensile test has been designed for the experimental determination of yield locus points of thin steel sheets. Using texture-based anisotropi c finite-element simulations, the geometry of the test sample has been opti mized. A detailed accuracy analysis is presented and the range of accuracy of the new specimen is derived. Experimental tests have been carried out on a ultra-low carbon and a bake-hardening steel. Both the yield stresses and the ratios of plastic strains have been compared to the theoretical predic tions obtained with the Taylor-Bishop-Hill model using the experimentally-d etermined crystallographic textures.