Biaxial tensile test according to the Marciniak principle whereby the material to be shaped is placed freely in the top of the stamp thus allowing the sheet metal to be placed on the stamp in a well defined biaxial tensile condition without friction. To be able to study the microstructural deformation of modern deformable sheet metal, the test must be performed in an electron microscope. The major challenge was to build in the limited space in the electron microscope (200x200x50 mm) a deep drawing device with a force of 150 kN and a travel of 15 mm. The entire set-up is controlled and monitored using a Labview application on a PC.

Publication: C.C. Tasan, J.P.M. Hoefnagels, E.C.A. Dekkers, M.G.D. Geers, Multi-axial Deformation Setup for Microscopic Testing of Sheet Metal to Fracture, Submitted, (2010).