A MECHANICAL corner-bend test is presented in this paper as a quantitative measure of drawing quality in sheet and strip steel.
The load required to bend the corner, when corrected for sheet thickness, is representative of ductility, and is associated with the yield point and, to some degree, with the Rockwell hardness of the material. The curvature of the corner bend is related to yield elongation, and can be used as a measure of stretcher-strain susceptibility.
In stamping plants this flex-test has filled the need for a simple nondestructive test immediately applicable at the operation. It requires no specimen preparation and provides evaluations that can be supported by actual press performance of the steel sheet.
The usefulness of the test has been extended to laboratory studies of the mechanics of strain aging in strip steels.