Deformation and Texture Evolution of a 3004 Aluminium Alloy During Ironing

Abstract

The production of drawn and ironed (D&I) beverage cans represents an important example of process optimisation. The aluminium alloy 3004 H19 is widely used for the can body, since it has a good combination of formability and strength and results in very little earing after deep drawing. These desirable properties are achieved by exercising careful control of the rolling schedule of the can stock sheet. During the ironing stage the wall thickness is reduced by a factor of about three, and these large strains determine the resulting texture in the can wall. Large shear strains are also present and these can vary through the wall thickness. The present work deals with the deformation and texture evolution when ironing strips of 3004 aluminium. The strip material was in either a cold rolled or an annealed condition. The texture on each surface of the ironed strips, as well as at the mid-plane, was determined experimentally. The experimental results were then compared with the results from a computer program which was capable of predicting the texture evolution.