Flow behavior of Plasticine used in physical modeling of metal forming processes

In this study, compression tests were conducted to determine the flow behavior of various types of Plasticine. True stress-true strain relations are presented in the form of a well-known power law equation. It is shown that the strength coefficient and the strain hardening exponent vary significantly among the Plasticine with different colors commercially available. Furthermore, since three dimensional simulations require arranging slabs of alternating colors to form a grid pattern, two different colors, exhibiting similar flow characteristics, are identified. The flow behavior of the composite model is usually not the same as that of the individual colors. The results presented in this paper allow selection of the type of Plasticine which most closely resembles the strain hardening characteristic of the actual metal, thereby satisfying the `similarity condition' of the Physical Modeling Technique.