The effect of tension/torsion strain path changes on the work hardening of Cu–Zn brass

The analysis of metal forming problems commonly utilizes a strain path independent constitutive equation for the material under processing. This assumption may depart appreciably from reality. The influence of strain path changes on the flow behavior of Cu–Zn brass has been analyzed in two and three stage tests. The metal was subjected to sequential monotonic tensile and torsion straining. The results were observed in terms of effective stress–effective strain and strain hardening rate–effective strain curves, and were compared to those previously obtained for low carbon steel. The observed effects alter significantly the hardening behavior of Cu–Zn brass, and should be considered in the analysis of forming processes.