Temperature-dependent plastic behavior of ASA: Johnson-Cook plasticity model calibration and FEM validation

Abstract

Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (ASA) is widely used in outdoor structural applications due to its favorable mechanical stability and weather resistance; however, its temperature-dependent plastic behavior remains insufficiently characterized for accurate numerical simulation. This study presents a non-standard method of calibrating the temperature-dependent Johnson-Cook (J-C) plasticity model for ASA in the practical operating temperature range below the glass transition temperature. Uniaxial tensile tests at constant strain rate 0.01 s-1 were performed at -10 degrees C, +23 degrees C, and +65 degrees C to characterize the effect of temperature on the material's plastic response. The J-C parameters A, B, and n were identified for each temperature separately and globally using least-squares optimization implemented in MATLAB R2024b, showing good agreement with the experimental stress-strain curves. The calibrated parameters were subsequently implemented in Abaqus 2024 and validated through finite element simulations of the tensile tests. Numerical predictions demonstrated a very high correlation with the experimental data across all temperatures, confirming that the J-C model accurately captures the hardening behavior of ASA. The presented parameter set and calibration methodology provide a reliable basis for future simulation-driven design, forming analysis, and structural assessment of ASA components subjected to variable thermal conditions.