APPLICABILITY OF FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD TO DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF FOOD CANS

An investigation has been carried out into the applicability of the fi nite element method to the modelling of bead forming, axial crush test s, and panel tests. A bead forming simulation was set up that accurate ly predicts the relationship between tooling and final bead profile. H owever, the 'diablo' effect could not be reproduced by the two-dimensi onal model. Limitations of the two-dimensional axial crush analyses ar e discussed, justifying the consideration of a three-dimensional analy sis. Th ree-dimensional axial crush and panel tests were used to calcu late failure to within 5% of experimental values. Study of the results highlight the importance of non-axisymmetric loading and geometry in reducing the failure loads. The finite element models are shown to be sensitive to minor variations in geometry, material properties, and lo ading conditions. They are capable of accurate quantitative assessment s of the effects of varying such factors, and as such are invaluable a ids in can design and optimisation, (C) 1998 The Institute of Material s.