International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 42 (2000) 907 } 923

Micromechanisms of deformation and fracture in shearing aluminum alloy sheet

Ming Li*
Material Mechanics and Microstructure Center, Alcoa Technical Center, Alcoa Center, PA 15069, USA Received 3 June 1998; received in revised form 27 January 1999

Abstract This paper presents the microscopic observations and provides insight into the results and phenomena reported in the previous paper (Li M. An experimental investigation on cut surface and burr in trimming aluminum autobody sheet. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 2000;42(5):889}906). It is found that the localization zone is curved for the traditional 03 cutting and does not extend from the top blade tip to the bottom blade tip. Instead, it extends to the initial indentation point by the bottom blade tip. However, the localization zone appears to be straight for angled cutting and does extend from the top blade tip to the bottom blade tip. This explains the mechanisms of burr formation and cut surface pro"les as well as the formation of the secondary burnish areas. It is observed that for aluminum alloys cracks initiate and propagate well ahead of the moving blade tip regardless of the blade sharpness. Following the formation and propagation of the localization zone, the initiation, growth and coalescence of microvoids occur far ahead of the macroscopic crack tip. At the locations where the fracture mode switches from `sheara to `shear and teara, large second-phase particles are present which trigger the unsteady progress of the fracture process. Finally, a few non-dimensional parameters are discussed with respect to analyzing shearing ductile metals and alloys. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Microstructure; Localization; Ductile fracture; Non-dimensional parameter; Multi-scale

1. Introduction This is the second in a series of papers investigating the cut surface and burr formation in shearing aluminum alloy sheets. The previous paper [1] presented experimental results concerning the e!ects of the process parameters of blade sharpness, clearance, and cutting angle in orthogonal
* Tel.: #1-724-337-2492; fax: #1-724-337-2135. E-mail address: ming.li@alcoa.com (M. Li) 0020-7403/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 2 0 - 7 4 0 3 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 3 4 - X

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trimming where the blade cutting edge is in (or parallel to) the sheet plane. This paper will present the micromechanisms of deformation and fracture to explain the experimental results and the interesting phenomena that call for understanding from both the macro- and micro-scales. A third paper [2] will primarily focus on the shearing processes where the blade cutting edge is o! (or inclined to) the sheet plane. Shearing is a process that involves plastic indentation, formation and propagation of localization zones, void nucleation, growth and coalescence, and crack initiation and propagation. Following the introduction, Section 2 of this paper discusses the initiation and propagation of the strain localization zones as well as the formation and propagation of the macroscopic cracks. In Section 3, the micromechanisms of crack initiation in shearing are explored. The initiation, growth and coalescence of the microvoids prove to be the dominant mechanisms in shearing aluminum alloys which lead to material separation. Section 4 attempts to understand the fundamental reasons of how the cutting angle a!ects burr formation and cut surface quality as well as the formation of the secondary burnish area. Section 5 focuses on the microscopic investigation of the dramatic switch in fracture mode from `sheara to `shear and teara, and asserts that very large constituent particles are primarily responsible for this switch. In Section 6, a few non-dimensional parameters for analyzing the process of shearing ductile metals and alloys are discussed.

2. Strain localizations, crack initiation and propagation The initial deformation in shearing processes is plastic indentation and the formation and propagation of strain localization zones. Fig. 1a shows a micrograph of the cross section of an interrupted test (stopped prior to complete separation) specimen that was sheared using a 03 cutting angle and 5% clearance. (Refer to Fig. 1 in the previous paper [1] for the de"nition of clearance, cutting angle, and blade sharpness). Both the upper (moving) blade and the lower stationary blade (or die) were sharp with edge radii of 25.4 m (0.001 in). The micrograph was taken after electro-polishing the specimen for 2 min in order to reveal the grain deformation pattern. The initial microstructure was recrystallized with approximately equiaxial grains, as shown in the region on the micrograph away from the shear zone. The deformation pattern in the shear zone indicates that there is large rotation of grains within the shear zone and that tensile deformation occurs in addition to shear deformation, which recon"rms the basic assumptions in Ref. [3]. Through rigid}plastic slipline theory, it can be shown analytically that the material rotation and tensile stress and deformation in the shear zone would result [4]. The plastic strain localization zones propagate much faster from the moving (top) blade than from the bottom stationary blade (or die). The deformation zone is non-symmetric with respect to the top and bottom blades. This is not due to dynamic (or inertial) e!ects but rather to the shearing con"guration of the experimental setup. The punching was done at quasi-static rates (about 0.05 m/s) and therefore stress wave and dynamic e!ects are negligible. Therefore, the dynamic or stress wave e!ects should be negligible. However, since the cutting con"guration is not symmetric with respect to the top and bottom blade, as schematically shown in Fig. 1 in Ref. [1], the `scrapa (or the portion being cut o! ) experiences signi"cant bending while the `parta (or the portion desired to be kept) keeps straight between the pad and the die. The non-symmetrical behavior of the localization zone is due to the stress components in the shear zone induced by the bending e!ects. Most

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Fig. 1. Initiation and propagation of the plastic localization zone and shear bands produced with a sharp moving (top) blade at 03 cutting angle and 5% clearance.

theoretical models and numerical simulations of the shearing processes prescribe symmetric boundary conditions which would certainly result in a symmetrical deformation pattern. It is very interesting to note that a 03 cutting angle results in a localization zone that is not straight but curved (Fig. 1a). Also, the localization zone does not connect from the top blade tip to the bottom blade tip but rather from the top blade tip to the initial indentation point by the bottom blade. The localization zone consists of many shear bands. (In this paper, the concept of `shear banda is purposefully distinguished from `strain localization zonea, though `shear banda generally is strain localization and material instability). Fig. 1b is the enlargement of the upper portion of Fig. 1a. These shear bands appear to be straight and do not necessarily align in the same direction as the localization zone. These shear bands `tangentiallya shape the localization zone. Each shear band is spatially con"ned [5] and does not run through the entire cross-section of the specimen. A shear band sometimes branches just like the branching of a crack as often observed. Dodd [6] and Dodd and Atkins [7] attempted to relate the maximum load in shearing processes to plastic instability or #ow localization, which indeed captured an essential element of the mechanisms in shearing processes. In most shearing processes, except in the process such as high speed slitting, the strain rates in the shear zones are moderate and adiabatic thermal softening seems to play only a minor role in the onset and propagation of the plastic instabilities. Nevertheless, the spatially and temporally con"ned nature of the plastic instabilities (the `localization zonea and the `shear bandsa) may need to be included in theoretical analysis.

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Fig. 2. Initiation and propagation of the plastic localization zone and shear bands produced with a dull moving (top) blade at 03 cutting angle and 5% clearance. Note that the stationary (bottom) blade is sharp.

The subsequent stage is the crack initiation and propagation. It can be seen clearly from Figs. 1 and 2 that the crack initiates and propagates along the localization zone that originates from the top moving blade, regardless of the blade sharpness. Fig. 2a is a micrograph of an electro-polished sample that was cut with a dull (0.5 mm (0.020 in) of edge radius) moving blade and a sharp stationary blade (or die) of edge radius of 25.4 m (0.001 in). The cutting angle was 03 and the clearance was 5% of the sheet thickness. Again, it is important to note that the localization zone is curved and does not connect from the top blade tip to the bottom blade tip. The enlargement of the portion near the bottom blade (Fig. 2b) shows that numerous shear bands occur within the localization zone. A crack does not necessarily initiate in the shear band direction (Figs. 1b and 2b). It is indeed a surprise that the crack only initiates and propagates from the top moving blade, even in the case where the top moving blade (0.5 mm edge radius) is much duller than the bottom stationary blade (25.4 m edge radius). As discussed, it is unlikely that this is due to the dynamic e!ects of the cutting process. The punch speed is too slow for the stress wave e!ect to be a dominant factor. The bending of the `scrapa portion induces a high tensile stress component in the upper portion of the localization zone. Generally, a certain magnitude of tensile stress is needed to open a crack. However, the stress state in the vicinity of the tool tip due to plastic indentation is mostly in compression even for an extremely sharp blade. As Noble and Oxley [8] noted in their research, a crack usually occurs in the region of maximum hardness gradient. However, we believe that it is not the gradient (or the rate of the spatial change) of hardness but rather the hardness itself that is an indicator of the occurrence of a crack. Hardness is related to the magnitude of strain for work-hardening materials. Therefore, the gradient of hardness is proportional to the gradient of strain. It is the magnitude of strain (or stress) that sets the incipient of cracks. Considering the micromechanisms of crack initiation, it is the stress (or strain), not its gradient, that controls the initiation, growth, and coalescence of the microvoids.

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Fig. 3. The failure mode is void nucleation, growth and coalescence. Void sheets form in front the crack tip.

It has always been of interest to know if the crack runs ahead of the tool tip or if it just keeps pace with the tool tip for a speci"c metal [9,10]. Fig. 3a is a micrograph (in the as-polished condition) of the same specimen in Fig. 2, which shows that the crack runs well ahead of the dull top tool tip. For a sharp top blade, the crack also runs ahead of the tool tip (Fig. 1).

3. Micromechanisms of crack initiation Aluminum alloys generally contain appreciable amounts of second-phase particles (e.g., constituents, dispersoids and precipitates). For 6111-T4, the alloy used in this experimental investigation, quantitative measurement with a "eld emission gun scanning electron microscope indicates that the peak of the size distribution of the constituent particles is at 0.8 m at which the number of constituents per square meter of about 1;10. The volume fraction of the constituents is about 0.64% and their mean aspect ratio is about 2.3. For dispersoid particles, the peak of the size distribution is at about 0.1 m at which the number of dispersoids per square meter is about 3;10. The volume fraction of the dispersoids is about 0.28% and their mean aspect ratio is about 1.5. Fig. 4 is an optical micrograph showing the constituent particles in the shear zone from an interrupted test stopped at a very early stage of deformation. The nucleation of microvoids and microcracks occur by fragmentation of the particles or by debonding of the particle}matrix interfaces. Usually, particles which have more equi-axed shape nucleate voids by interfacial decohesion while particles with more irregular shapes and large aspect ratios often break by internal fragmentation. Also, larger particles nucleate voids at much lower strains than smaller particles, and void growth takes place more rapidly at larger particles [11,12]. Therefore, the e!ects of the precipitates (the smallest second-phase particles in aluminum alloys) on the ductile fracture

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Fig. 4. Constituent particles in the shear zone from an interrupted test specimen at the early stage of deformation. Voids nucleate by particle cracking and debonding of particle/matrix interface in the shear zone at the early stage of deformation.

process is negligible, because their average diameter is 0.01 m which is one order of magnitude smaller than that of the dispersoids and two orders of magnitude smaller than that of the constituents. Fig. 5 is an SEM micrograph of an interrupted test specimen showing the void growth process in the shear zone. Note that the macroscopic cracks have not yet reached this region. Fig. 6 presents the enlargement of a particular group of voids in Fig. 5 to depict the process of void coalescence. The small white particles appearing in the micrograph are dispersoids. Fig. 7 shows the SEM micrograph of a typical fracture surface of a completely sheared specimen. The dimpled characteristics indicate that void nucleation, growth and coalescence are indeed the micromechanisms of failure. It has been shown theoretically that the growth rate of voids and microcracks is exponentially proportional to the tensile hydrostatic stress [13,14]. Hydrostatic tensile stress also contributes to the debonding and fragmentation of the second-phase particles and consequently promotes the void nucleation process for materials containing these second-phase particles. It is the states of stress (or strain), not its gradient, that controls the nucleation, growth and coalescence of the voids. From this perspective, the hardness itself, not the gradient of hardness, should be an indicator of crack formation. Certainly, strain gradient has merits to predict the widths of shear bands and to introduce length scales into continuum plasticity [15,16]. Very often, in the modeling of shearing processes in particular and metal cutting in general, the classical fracture mechanics concept is employed and some fracture criteria (e.g., K or K ) is used '! ''! to determine the crack opening and propagation direction (e.g., Ref. [17]). As seen in Fig. 3b, which

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Fig. 5. SEM micrograph of an interrupted test specimen showing the void growth and coalescence processes in the shear zone.

Fig. 6. High-resolution SEM micrograph of an enlarged portion in Fig. 5 showing the internal structure of an almost coalescent void group.

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Fig. 7. SEM micrograph of a typical fracture surface of a sheared specimen depicting the dimpled structure.

is a more detailed examination of the crack tip area in Fig. 3a, void sheets form and develop in front of the crack tip. Note that the void sheet has not yet connected with the main macroscopic crack. This, together with Fig. 5, shows that the material separation is not caused by a single dominant macroscopic crack that continually propagates through the entire shear zone. It suggests that the assumption of the classical crack initiation and propagation model using K or K may be '! ''! a misconception in analyzing shearing processes, at least for aluminum alloys which contain appreciable amounts of second-phase particles.

4. Cutting angle e4ects on burr formation and cut surface It is commonly believed that a burr forms because the blade is locally dull, or because in reality the blade edge radius is always "nite, and an in"nitely sharp blade will result in a zero burr. The experimental results in this paper prove it is not the case. As shown in Figs. 1a and 2a, for the conventional 03 cutting, the localization zone is curved regardless of blade sharpness. It does not connect from the top blade tip to the bottom blade tip, but rather to the initial indentation point of the bottom blade. Since the crack will initiate and propagate through the localization zone, the cut surface will be curved and the burr will form because the crack will not run to the bottom blade tip, as clearly exhibited in Fig. 3a. Therefore, even for an in"nitely sharp blade, a burr will form as long as the localization zone does not extend from the top blade tip to the bottom blade tip. Certainly, a sharper blade will yield a lower burr. The cutting angle has a dramatic e!ect on the shape of the localization zone. Fig. 8 shows a micrograph of an interrupted test specimen cut at a 203 angle and with 5% clearance. Both the

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Fig. 8. Localization zone produced using 203 cutting angle.

moving blade (top) and the stationary blade (bottom) are sharp (25.4 m (0.001 in) edge radius). It is noted that the localization zone appears to be (relatively) straight. Also, the localization zone connects from the top tool tip to the bottom tool tip. Therefore, the burr should be minimized as the crack initiates and propagates through the localization zone. The above perspectives are con"rmed by examining the cut surface pro"les of both the `partsa and `scrapsa under representative cutting conditions. Fig. 9 shows the specimens cut at a 03 angle (Fig. 9a,b) and at a 203 angle (Fig. 9c,d). Both the top (moving) blade and the bottom (stationary) blade are sharp (25.4 m (0.001 in) edge radius) and the clearances are 5% for these two tests which di!er only in the cutting angle. The cut surface pro"le of the `parta cut at 03 (Fig. 9b) is curved and a burr forms at the bottom edge, while that cut at 203 (Fig. 9d) appears to be straight and there is almost no burr. Accordingly, the cut surface pro"le of the `scrapa cut at 03 (Fig. 9a) is curved and that cut at 203 (Fig. 9c) is relatively straight. Examination of the grain deformation pattern and the cut surface pro"les of the `parta and `scrapa cut with extremely dull moving blades (0.75 mm (0.030 in) edge radius) may shed more light on the shearing mechanism (Fig. 10). The bottom stationary blades are sharp with edge radii of 25.4 m (0.001 in). The clearances are 5% of the sheet thickness. Fig. 10a and b show, respectively, the `scrapa and the `parta cut at 03, and Fig. 10c and d present those cut at 203. Again, the fracture surfaces for the 03 cuts are curved and those for 203 cuts are relatively straight. Overall, the plastic deformation zone on the `scrapa is much more di!use than that cut with sharp moving blades (Fig. 9a,c). However, the deformation zone on the `parta is still relatively concentrated or localized. The rollover on the `parta for the 03 cut is much larger than that for the 203 cut, which suggests that more shear deformation occurred before fracture at 03 than that at 203. It seems that tensile deformation and fracture develop at a much later stage for the 03 cut than for the 203 cut.

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Fig. 9. Grain deformation and cut surface pro"les of the `scrapa and the `parta cut with 5% clearance and top blade edge radius of 25.4 m (0.001 in).

It is of interest to know why secondary burnish areas form for the 03 cutting angle when the clearance is very small and the blade is sharp (Fig. 4a in Ref. [1]). As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the cut surface pro"le is curved for the 03 cutting. For a sharp blade, the cut surface pro"le of the `parta is slightly concave at the upper portion while convex at the lower portion (Fig. 9b), which can be predicted from the shape of the localization zone (Fig. 1a). When the clearance is very small, the continuing travel of the blade will contact the convex portion to form the secondary burnish area. For a dull blade, the pro"le of the fracture area in the cut surface is all concave (Fig. 10b). The blade would not contact the fracture surface when it travels downward. The secondary burnish area does

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Fig. 10. Grain deformation and cut surface pro"les of the `scrapa and the `parta cut with 5% clearance and top blade edge radius of 0.50 mm (0.020 in).

not appear for 203 cuttings, since the cut surface pro"le of the `parta is straight (Figs. 9d and 10d) and the blade has no opportunity to contact the fracture area.

5. Switch of fracture mode from `sheara to `shear and teara One interesting phenomenon described in the previous paper [1] is that for certain cutting angles and when the blade becomes dull, signi"cant nonuniformity develops in the fracture areas.

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Fig. 11. The enlargement of a portion in Fig. 8 of Ref. [1] showing the dramatic switch of fracture mode from `sheara to `shear and teara. (a) the `parta; (b) the `scrapa.

At certain locations, there are dramatic changes in fracture mode from `sheara to `shear and teara, as shown in Fig. 11 (which is the enlargement of a portion of Fig. 8 in Ref. [1]). From the macroscopic continuum mechanics perspective, assuming homogeneous material, the stress and strain states in the shear zone should be invariant across the specimen width. Consequently, the deformation and fracture in the shear zone should be uniform across the specimen width. It seems that the explanation of this phenomenon may come from material inhomogeneities which require microscopic considerations. High magni"cation SEM was employed to carefully examine the fracture surface at the locations where the fracture modes switch. It was found that very large second-phase particles were present in the transition area at each location where the fracture mode switches. Fig. 12 shows such a particle found in the transition area in Fig. 11a. The size of the particle is about 5 m;10 m. The X-ray composition technique was used to analyze the particle. It proves to be an Al}Fe}Mn constituent particle, as the X-ray display indicated (Fig. 13). These unusually large constituent particles trigger the unsteady progress of the fracture process.

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Fig. 12. A large constituent particle right at the transition area where the fracture mode switches.

Fig. 13. The X-ray analysis technique indicating the particle is an Al}Fe}Mn constituent particle.

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The relevant question is why the phenomenon occurs (for the same material) only under angled cutting and when the blade becomes dull, and how the observed material microstructural features are related to the macroscopic cutting parameters. The `extrinsica reason for the phenomenon is the stress and strain states created by the macroscopic cutting conditions. A dull blade results in a more di!use (or wider) localization zone. The mode switch from a 2-D `sheara to a 3-D `shear and teara requires that the fracture event occur in the third dimension, the out-of-paper direction in Fig. 11. If the localization zone is su$ciently concentrated, the fracture in the third dimension will not be permissible. Also, a tensile force component in the out-of-paper direction is necessary for the `teara to occur, and the angled cutting con"guration provides that tensile force. The `intrinsica element is the relative dimension of the particle size to the width of the localization zone (or the dimensions of the blade edge radius and clearance which determine the width of the localization zone).

6. Non-dimensional parameters in shearing Dimensional analysis has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool in exploring complicated phenomena [18,19]. Instead of focusing on individual parameters such as clearance, blade edge radius, sheet thickness, etc., consideration of a few non-dimensional parameters may provide new perspectives to sheet metal shearing. At the macroscale continuum mechanics level, the "rst non-dimensional parameter is r/c, where r is the blade edge radius and c is the clearance (as shown in Fig. 1 in Ref. [1]). r/c determines the local stress and strain distributions around the blade tip. Larger r results in a more di!use plastic zone. Smaller r and/or larger c induce more normal stress and less shear stress in the localization (or shear) zone. Therefore, as observed in the experiments, as blade edge radius decreases (the sharpness increases) and the clearance increases, the burnish area decreases while the fracture area increases, because the burnish area is primarily governed by shearing while the fracture area is more controlled by tensile stress. Generally, a larger clearance results in a larger tensile stress component at the later stages of deformation and, consequently, requires smaller punch force. Fig. 14 is a plot from a well-established handbook of metal forming [20] which shows the shearing force variation with punch travel distance at di!erent clearances for AISI 1010 steel. The largest clearance results in the lowest shearing force after the peak load. The second non-dimensional parameter is (K / 7)/r, where K is the fracture toughness of the A A sheet material and 7 is its yield strength. This parameter characterizes the crack behavior in relation to the blade sharpness. It can be a signi"cant parameter for evaluating the ability and the extent to which a crack runs ahead of the tool tip. The third non-dimensional parameter is the cutting angle . The cutting angle determines the ratio of the overall normal stress component to the shear stress component in the localization (or shear) zone. It has been shown to have a dramatic in#uence on the shape of the localization zone and consequently on the burr height and the cut surface quality. The fourth non-dimensional parameter is the normalized clearance c/t (sometimes simply termed `clearancea in the paper), where t is the sheet thickness. This parameter contributes to the overall stress and strain distributions in the localization zone. Another non-dimensional parameter 7/ S may also be included in the consideration, where S is the ultimate stress. This parameter can be an indicator of the hardening capacity of the material and also contributes the nucleation, growth, and coalescence of voids.

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Fig. 14. The shearing force}punch displacement diagrams for di!erent clearances in blanking process (after Ref. [20]). s is the sheet thickness, u represents the clearance.

The macroscopic material behavior in shearing is intrinsically a!ected by the material microstructure. The ductile fracture process of aluminum alloys is signi"cantly in#uenced by the second-phase particles and several other microstructural features. Microscopic non-dimensional parameters d/l, l/D, and < are of primary importance for analyzing shearing processes of alumiD num alloys, where d represents the (average) particle diameter, l is the (average) particle spacing, D is the (average) grain size, and < is the particle volume fraction. For heat-treatable aluminum D alloys, the mode of fracture is often intergranular. Two particularly important microstructural parameters are d /w and w/D, where d is the (average) diameter of the grain boundary precipitates N N and w is the width of the precipitate free zone [21]. Meanwhile, the relative dimensions of microstructural features to the dimensions of macroscopic cutting parameters sometimes can also be the key to understand phenomena occurred in shearing ductile metals and alloys. For example, the relative dimension of the particle size d and particles spacing l to the blade edge radius r and clearance c give the relative scales in which a microscopic event occurs in a critical macroscopic length scale (e.g., the width of the localization zone). They govern the phenomenon of `sheara to `shear and teara fracture mode switch. 7. Discussions and concluding remarks In sheet metal shearing, many issues remain that require fundamental understanding at both the macro- and micro-scales. It is di$cult to perceive from the macroscopic continuum mechanics perspective the counter-intuitive phenomenon that at a certain cutting angle and clearance, the burr height and cut surface roughness "rst increase and then decrease as blade dullness increases. It is likely that the analytical descriptions of the observation that under the critical conditions the burr height and cut surface appearance are extremely sensitive to the cutting parameters need to be formulated in terms of non-dimensional parameters to include both the `extrinsica (or macroscopic) and `intrinsica (or microscopic) factors.

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A critical stage in shearing ductile metals and alloys is the formation and propagation of plastic localization zones. The classical localization theory [22,23] assumes a deformation gradient jump across a straight boundary in an in"nite homogenous body under homogenous stresses. The theory views the occurrence of isothermal shear bands as an instability of the time-independent material constitutive behavior. However, as observed in this experimental investigation, the localization zone is not necessarily straight. Though the shear bands appear to be more or less straight, they often branch and are spatially con"ned. As we found that the J-integral commonly used for treating crack mechanics is also path-independent for a shear band [5], and it can be used to theoretically analyze the propagation of the shear bands and the localization zones under inhomogeneous stresses in the metal shearing process. Crystal plasticity theory together with numerical simulation can be employed to explore the grain deformation pattern and the formation and propagation of localization zones. They can provide fundamental information on the e!ects of grain orientation and texture, grain size, grain inhomogeneity, etc. Practical problems can impose great challenges to fundamental research. Understanding the responses of material microstructure to the shearing process can provide signi"cant insight into potential solutions to shearing problems and de"ne a range of operating parameters which would greatly improve the process [24]. Acknowledgements The author is greatly indebted to Hasso Weiland and John J. Ptasienski who helped take the SEM micrographs, and to John C. Brem and Thomas N. Rouns who helped characterize the size and distribution of the constituents and dispersoids particles. Thanks are due to Daniel J. Lege, Richard C. Becker and Owen Richmond for the critical reading of the manuscript. The helpful suggestions and insightful comments from two anonymous reviewers are also gratefully acknowledged. References
[1] Li M. An experimental investigation on cut surface and burr in trimming aluminum autobody sheet. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 2000;42(5):889}906. [2] Li M. E!ects of inclined knife geometry on burr and cut surface quality in shearing aluminum alloy sheet (manuscript in preparation). [3] Zhou Q, Wierzbicki T. A tension zone model of blanking and tearing of ductile metal plate. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 1996;38:303. [4] Johnson W, Sowerby R, Venter RD. Plane-strain slip-line "elds for metal-deformation processes: a source book and bibliography. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1982, p. 131. [5] Li M, Richmond O. Intrinsic instability and nonuniformity of plastic deformation. International Journal of Plasticity 1997;13:765. [6] Dodd B. Shear instabilities in blanking and related process. Metals Technology 1983;10:57. [7] Dood B, Atkins AG. Flow localization in shear deformation of void-containing and void-free solids. Acta Metallurgica 1983;31:9. [8] Noble CF, Oxley PLB. Crack formation in blanking and piercing. International Journal of Production Research 1964;2:265. [9] Atkins AG. Surface produced by guillotining. Philosophical Magazine A 1981;43:827. [10] Atkins AG. On cropping and related process. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences 1980;22:215.

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