An Economical and Environmental Alternative to Traditional Can Manufacturing Using a New Pre-laminated Steel

Metal containers are the most commonly used packaging worldwide in both the food and beverage industry. Some manufacturing processes in the canning industry include multi-step transformations that take large aluminum or steel coils and make them into two or three-piece cans. During this process, the containers are sprayed to obtain a better surface for the contents; however, this spray produces volatile organic compounds (VOC). This paper presents a new and environmentally friendly can manufacturing method, which uses a novel pre-laminated two-layer polymer steel. As experimentally proven, this innovative polymer-coated steel successfully withstands every manufacturing requirement. The specimens were tested in an ironing simulator, measuring roughness and friction coefficients. The development of an upper bound ironing model, along with a supporting neural network, allows an insight into the design of new materials for can manufacturing.