With the focus of the automotive industry on decreasing vehicle weight and improving fuel efficiency, aluminum is being used for structural components in automobiles. Given the high strain rates associated with vehicle impact, it is necessary to understand the rate sensitivity of any potential alloy (eg. AA5754) in order to accurately predict deformation behaviour. Furthermore, the magnitude and strain path associated with the residual strains remaining after forming of the component also play a major role in how the material will behave.

It has been found that AA5754 sheet exhibits negative rate sensitivity up to a strain rate of 0.1/s, and positive strain rate sensitivity at strain rates between 0.1/s and 1500/s. Increasing the strain rate also has the effect of increasing the yield stress as well as the ductility. When a strain path change is involved between the prestrain stage and subsequent uniaxial loading, it has the effect of reducing the rate sensitivity of the material as well as reducing the overall flow stress. A rate-sensitive adaptation of the Voce material model was successfully implemented in LS-DYNA and used to predict the response of AA5754 sheet in bending for applied strain rates of 0.001/s and 0.1/s.