Residual stresses in press-braked stainless steel sections, II: Press-braking operations

The manufacturing process of cold-formed thin-walled steel members induces cold work which can be characterized by the co-existent residual stresses and equivalent plastic strains and has a significant effect on their structural behaviour and strength. The present paper and the companion paper are concerned with the prediction of residual stresses and co-existent equivalent plastic strains in stainless steel sections formed by the press-braking method. This manufacturing process consists of the following two distinct stages: (i) coiling and uncoiling of the sheets, and (ii) press-braking operations. This paper first presents an analytical solution for the residual stresses and the co-existent equivalent plastic strains that arise from the second stage while a corresponding analytical solution for the first stage is presented in the companion paper. In both solutions, plane strain pure bending is assumed and the effect of material anisotropy is taken into account. On the basis of these two analytical solutions, an analytical model is presented to predict residual stresses and equivalent plastic strains in press-braked stainless sections. The predictions of the analytical model are shown to be in close agreement with results from a finite element-based method, demonstrating the validity and accuracy of the analytical model. The analytical model provides a much simpler method for the accurate prediction of residual stresses and equivalent plastic strains in different parts of a press-braked stainless steel section than a finite element-based method.