International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing Online ISSN 2005-4602

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-021-00502-4 Print ISSN 2234-7593

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Strain Hardening Characteristics of 99.9% Pure Silver at Large Strains

Doohyun Cho1 · Jung‑Hoon Kim1 · Hyo Chan Kwon1 · Kwon‑Hee Kim2 

Received: 2 September 2020 / Revised: 21 February 2021 / Accepted: 2 March 2021

© Korean Society for Precision Engineering 2021

Abstract
Silver has wide-ranging applications, such as industrial equipment, semiconductors, musical instruments, and silverware.
Despite its diversified applications, publications on its strain-hardening characteristics are rare. In this work, tensile and hard-
ness tests were performed for cold-rolled specimens at different levels of thickness reduction after full annealing. Up to the
true strain of 1.7, strain-hardening characteristics and variations in Rockwell hardness were obtained for 99.9% pure silver.
The consistency between the true stress–strain curve and the hardness data was confirmed through finite-element modeling
and analysis of the hardness test procedure. Strain-hardened pure silver was verified to have yield strength comparable to
sterling silver. For applications where both of purity and deformation resistance are important, strain hardened pure silver
could be a practical candidate.

Keywords  Cold rolling · Finite-element analysis · Hardness test · Rockwell · Silver · Stress–strain curves · Ford

Abbreviations contacts of silver-copper alloys are known to form oxide

σ True stress films during their operations [2]. Due to the films, electrical
ε True strain resistance between the contacts continue to rise reducing the
𝜀 Equivalent strain service life of the contacts.
s Engineering stress Recently, electrical components such as printed circuit
e Engineering strain board (PCB), semiconductor and multi-layered ceramic
E Young’s modulus capacitor (MLCC) are becoming thinner, finer and smaller.
Fast and reliable electrical inspection of such components
motivate the use of silver alloys due to smaller contact area
1 Introduction and increased local heat concentration.
It will be ideal if pure silver may be strengthened up to
Silver is a precious metal widely used for jewelry and silver- the level of its alloys. Pure silver does not tarnish in the air
ware. With its highest electrical and thermal conductivities unless exposed to sulfur or heat [3]. One way to increase
[1], silver is also applied to electrical contacts in various the strength of a ductile metal is work hardening. The work
industrial devices. To enhance mechanical strength and wear hardening behavior of pure silver is poorly known except a
resistance, pure silver is often alloyed with copper. A com- few contradictory reports [1]. In this work, a combination of
mon type of this alloy is Sterling silver with 92.5% silver multistage rolling and tensile test suggested by Ford [4] is
and 7.5% copper used for silverware. For industrial applica- employed to investigate the work hardening characteristics
tions, higher concentration of copper may be used. Electrical of pure silver up to the logarithmic strain of 1.7 (447% of
engineering strain).
There is a unique correlation between the hardness and
* Kwon‑Hee Kim strength of a metal [3]. It is reported that finite element sim-
[email protected] ulations of indentations for hardness tests based on isotropic
1
hardening are in good agreements with the test data [5–7].
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate
School, Korea University, 145, Anam‑Ro, Seongbuk‑gu,
Along this line, it will be assumed that the effects of anisot-
Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea ropy and kinematic hardening are negligible. To validate the
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea
measured work hardening characteristics, Rockwell hardness
University, 145, Anam‑Ro, Seongbuk‑gu, Seoul 02841,
Republic of Korea

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predicted by finite element analyses at various stages of roll- Thickness and width of the five strips are listed in Table 1.
ing will be compared with the measured hardness data. The reference dimensions for the strips are identical to those
of strip A which is not subjected to subsequent cold rolling.
Table 1 Dimensional changes of 99.9% pure silver strips
2 Stress–strain Curve from Work Hardening prepared by cold rolling from fully annealed strip A.
From the strips in Table 1, tensile test specimens were
2.1 Strain Hardening prepared with the dimensions shown in Fig. 1 following
ASTM E8/E8M-08: Standard Test Methods for Tension
Materials are strain hardened by plastic deformation. Under Testing of Metallic Materials. To minimize the thermal
the assumption of isotropic hardening, work hardening of a effect on the gauge sections of the specimens, waterjet cut-
metallic material is governed by the total plastic work since ting was employed.
its fully annealed state. In the absence of plastic anisotropy Tensile tests were performed at the crosshead speed of
and Bauschinger effect, yield strength is a function of only 1 mm/s, and the test results are summarized in Table 2.
equivalent plastic strain regardless of strain path [8]. Figure 2 shows the specimens after tensile tests. For the
The most widely used tensile tests are subjected to neck- fully annealed specimen A, significant level of uniform ten-
ing and failure. To overcome this difficulty, combination of sile strain is observed before neck is formed orthogonal to
cold rolling and tensile test was proposed by Ford [4] for the specimen axis. With increasing prestrain levels from the
extended plastic strain ranges. In this methodology, local specimens B to E, the level of uniform tensile strain prior
inhomogeneities of plastic strains during cold rolling are to necking is reduced and the angle between the neck and
ignored to estimate the average level of equivalent plastic specimen axis decreases gradually.
strain prior to tensile test. Gradual decrease in the neck angle with increased pre-
strain suggests plastic anisotropy being developed by cold
2.2 Cold‑rolling Tensile Test rolling. According to the quadratic anisotropy theory of Hill
[9], the angle θ between the neck and specimen axis is given
Five strips A – E of 99.9% pure silver were prepared at dif- by
ferent levels of equivalent plastic strain. Strip A is in the
(3)
√
fully annealed state. The other strips B – E were prepared by tan 𝜃 = 1 + G∕H
cold rolling of fully annealed strips with varying degrees of
where G and H are plastic anisotropy coefficients. Decrease
thickness reduction. After rolling of each strip, the changes
in the ratio G/H leads to neck angle decrease with the pro-
in thickness and width were measured to obtain principal
gress of cold rolling. Plastic anisotropy and tensile necking
logarithmic strains ε1, ε2 and ε3 in the rolling, transverse, and
thickness directions respectively. Ignoring elastic strains,
volume constancy of plastic deformation gives,
𝜀1 + 𝜀2 + 𝜀3 = 0 (1)
The total equivalent plastic strain achieved by cold rolling
may be approximated as
√ {
1
𝜀= 2 (𝜀1 − 𝜀2 )2 + (𝜀2 − 𝜀3 )2 + (𝜀3 − 𝜀1 )2 (2)
3
Fig. 1  Geometry of tensile test specimens (ASTM E8/E8M-08)

Table 1  Dimensional changes of 99.9% pure silver strips prepared by Table 2  Summary of the tensile tests
cold rolling from fully annealed strip A
Specimen Maximum Elongation at the Engineering strain at
Strip Thickness (mm) Width (mm) Equivalent plas- Load (N) maximum load the maximum load
tic prestrain ( 𝜀) (mm)

A 2.01 33.00 0.00 A 4354.9 30.80 0.479

B 1.42 33.00 0.40 B 4420.6 1.06 0.021
C 1.02 33.07 0.78 C 3679.7 1.13 0.022
D 0.71 33.17 1.20 D 3024.5 1.12 0.022
E 0.48 33.20 1.65 E 2140.9 1.20 0.024

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be a valuable resource if it can be fit into a simple set of

equations.
To this end, the five true stress – true strain curves in
Fig. 3 were combined into Fig. 4 with the equivalent plastic
strain values in Table 1 for the corresponding offsets in true
strain. It is noted that for the case of specimen B—E, strain
ranges in Fig. 3 are in the vicinity of 0.02 except for the
specimen A.
The envelope of the five curves in Fig. 4 may be fit to the
following set of equations:

𝜎 = 𝜎0 + A1 e−𝜀∕t1 + A2 e−𝜀∕t2 (4)

with 𝜎0 = 298437.25MPa , A1 = −298143MPa , t1 = 7200.31 ,

Fig. 2  Specimens after the tensile tests
A2 = −237.93MPa , t2 = 0.35.
One way to check the validity of the work hardening
behavior represented by Eq. (4) is to compare the Rockwell
are complex phenomena not yet fully understood and are
hardness test results against the predictions from finite ele-
beyond the scope of current research.
ment simulations based on Eq. (4).
Figure 3 shows the true stress–true strain curves from the
tensile tests for the five specimens in Table 1.
2.4 Hardness Test
2.3 Representation of Strain Hardening Behavior The relationship between the yield strength and hardness of
from Fully Annealed State to Large Strains pure silver was investigated by Rockwell (scale F) hardness
tests for specimens at various stages of rolling.
The work hardening behavior of 99.9% pure silver from its
Figure 5 shows the sequence Rockwell hardness measure-
fully annealed state up to the logarithmic strain of 1.7 could
ment. First, preload of 98.07 N ( F0 ) is applied to the stand-
ard spherical indenter of 1.5875 mm diameter. Next, main
load of 490.3 N ( F1 ) is added to the preload. Finally, the
main load is released from the indenter with the recovered
depth of e. The remaining indentation depth h is converted
to the hardness which is proposed by HRF.
The Rockwell hardness (HRF) was calculated using the
definition of Eq. (5). h, which was required for the calcula-
tion of hardness, was obtained by making an indentation

Fig. 3  True Stress–True strain curves for the five tensile test speci-
mens in Table 1 Fig. 4  True stress–strain curve of 99.9% pure silver

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with the preload ( F0 ) and main load ( F1 ) in the order shown
in Fig. 5 and measuring the imprint mark depth after remov-
ing the load.
h
HRF = 130 − (5)
0.002
h: indentation depth (mm).
Hardness test specimens were prepared from the fully
annealed reference specimen shown in Fig. 6 by multistage
cold rolling. At each stage of cold rolling, four tests were
Fig. 5  Rockwell hardness measurement method performed as listed in Table 3. The minimum specimen
thickness for HRF hardness is 1.05 mm which is close to
the final entry of Table 3.
The hardness test results in Table  3 are presented by
Fig. 7 from zero to 2.8 of equivalent true strain. The HRF
value increases rapidly up to the strain of 0.2 and nearly
levels off after the strain of 2.5.
The hardness (HRF) data in Table 3 and Fig. 7 may be
represented by a curve fit equation:

HRF = y0 + B1 e−𝜀∕t1 + B2 e−𝜀∕t2 + B3 e−𝜀∕t3 (6)

With y0 = 91.71  , B1 = −38.83  , t1 = 0.85  , B2 = −40.75 ,

t2 = 0.05 , B3 = −2.74 , t3 = 0.4.

Fig. 6  Fully annealed 99.9% pure silver reference specimen for subse-

quent cold rolling

Table 3  Dimensions, equivalent No Thick- Width Equiv. HRF HRF HRF HRF

strain values, and Rockwell ness (mm) strain 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
hardness values of pure silver (mm)
with the progress of cold rolling
1 14.3 13.6 0.000 – – – –
2 14.2 13.7 0.01 17 14 12 14
3 14.1 13.7 0.019 24 26 21 22
4 14.0 13.7 0.024 27 29 24 18
5 13.8 13.7 0.037 30 31 32 33
6 13.7 13.7 0.047 40 35 34 37
7 13.6 13.7 0.059 37 42 42 41
8 13.3 13.7 0.078 48 48 49 48
9 13.1 13.8 0.092 48 50 50 49
10 12.9 14.0 0.113 50 54 50 51
11 12.3 14.1 0.159 55 57 58 57
12 11.8 14.4 0.200 62 61 61 61
13 10.9 14.9 0.280 62 63 66 63
14 10.0 15.2 0.368 62 68 69 69
15 9.0 15.2 0.488 71 71 68 69
16 7.0 15.8 0.752 77 74 75 71
17 5.0 16.6 1.113 79 82 82 81
18 3.0 17.3 1.673 87 87 87 87
19 1.6 17.9 2.426 90 91 91 90
20 1.1 18.0 2.837 90 90 90 90

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Fig. 9  Finite element mesh of the reference specimen in Fig. 6 mod-

eled with 20 node hexahedral elements
Fig. 7  Rockwell hardness (HRF) vs. equivalent strain for multistage
cold rolling of 99.9% pure silver

2.5 Prediction of Rockwell Hardness at Various

Levels of Cold Rolling

Commercial finite element analysis code ANSYS Work-

bench 2019 was used with Eq. (4) for quasi-static multi-stage
cold rolling of the reference specimen in Fig. 6.
The 150 mm diameter upper and lower rolls were mod-
eled as hollow steel cylinders. The rolls and the reference
specimen were modeled with 20 node hexahedral elements
as shown in Fig. 8. The details of the reference specimen
mesh are shown in Fig. 9. The friction coefficient between
the rolls and the specimen was set to 0.2.
The two rolls are left stationary until the reference speci-
men is advanced to contacts. Once the contacts are made,

Fig. 8  One quarter of finite element meshes for a pair rolls and the Fig. 10  Progress of reference specimen rolling
reference specimen in Fig. 6

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Fig. 13  Work hardening behavior of Sterling silver and 99.9% pure

silver

the rolls are driven about their axes into bite and reduction
of the specimen. The progress of rolling along the length of
specimen is shown in Fig. 10. For the second stage rolling,
an additional pair or identical rolls are positioned at the exit
of the first stage. As soon as the specimen reaches the second
stage rolls, the rolls are drive and the process is repeated.
The thickness reduction achieved by rolling simulation
was up to 88% which corresponds to the true strain of 1.83.
Due to mesh distortion and poor convergence, it was difficult
Fig. 11  Indentation and imprinted marks to achieve the true strain of 2 or higher.
After the completion of rolling, the rolls are stopped and
the two-stage loading and unloading of a spherical indenter
was performed in accordance with Fig. 5. An example of
indentation mark is shown in Fig. 11. The HRF hardness was
100 calculated with (5) using the indentation depth h.
90
The HRF hardness predicted vs. prestrain obtained from
finite element simulation of combined rolling and indenta-
Rockwell Hardness Number (HRF)

80 tion is shown in Fig. 12. Reasonable correlation is observed

70 between the measured and predicted HRF data.

60

50 3 Conclusions
40 The true stress – true strain data in Fig. 4 for 99.9% pure
30 silver reveals that significant level of hardening is achieved
Measured, from Fig. 7 up to the strain of 1.7. The Rockwell hardness values at vari-
20 Predicted with FE simulation ous stages of multistage rolling predicted based on the Fig. 4
10 data are also consistent with measured values as shown in
Fig. 12. Tensile test data for Sterling silver is included in
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Fig. 13 for comparison with the 99.9% pure silver data. Prior
Equivalent Strain to necking, fully annealed Sterling silver reached 280 MPa
which corresponds to the hardening level of 99.9% pure sil-
Fig. 12  Measured and predicted Rockwell hardness values for 99.9% ver at the true strain of 0.63. It may be suggested that for
pure silver up to the equivalent strain of 1.7 moderate range of strength, 99.9% pure silver could be an

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International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing

alternative to conventional Sterling silver especially when Jung‑Hoon Kim  Ph.D. candidate
oxidation resistance matters. in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Korea University.
His research interest is in the cre-
ating design of mechanical
Reference systems.

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deformation of metals by cold rolling,” Proceedings of the insti- Department of Mechanical
tution of mechanical engineers, vol. 159, 1: pp. 115–143, Jun 1, Engineering, Korea University
1948. and assistant professor in the
5. Ma, L., Low, S., & Song, J. (2003). Finite-element modeling and Department of Mechanical
experimental comparisons of the effects of deformable ball indent- Design, Gyeonggi University of
ers on Rockwell B hardness tests. Journal of Testing and Evalua- Science and Technology. His
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tion and prediction of hardness performance of Rockwell diamond
indenters using finite-element analysis. Computational Materials
Science and Surface Engineering, 1(1), 25–28.
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8. DongWon Kim, “Plasticity,” Cheongmoon, 1996. ISBN:
89-7088-483-1. Kwon‑Hee Kim  Professor in the
9. Hill, R. (1950). The Mathematical Theory of Plasticity. Oxford Department of Mechanical Engi-
University Press. neering, Korea University. His
research interest is in the creative
Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to design of mechanical systems
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. and commercial products.

Doohyun Cho  Ph.D. candidate in

the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Korea University.
His research interest is in the
design and development of pre-
cision machines.

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