ENGINEERED CAN BODY STOCK AND CAN END STOCK AND METHODS FOR MAKING AND USING SAME
This application discloses aluminum alloy products, such as can body stock and can end stock, that have improved processing qualities in high-speed production equipment due to engineered surfaces. For can body stock, processing is improved by providing at least two different surface roughnesses. For can end stock, processing is improved by reducing anisotropy at least at the top and bottom surfaces of the can end stock.
1 . An aluminum alloy product, comprising:
a first surface having a first average surface roughness; and
a second surface having a second average surface roughness, wherein the first average surface roughness is at least 20% lower than the second average surface roughness, as measured by a surface profilometer.
2 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the first average surface roughness is at least 30% lower than the second average surface roughness.
3 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the first average surface roughness is less than 0.4 μm.
4 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the second average surface roughness is greater than or equal to 0.4 μm.
5 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a 3xxx series aluminum alloy.
6 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 5 , wherein the 3xxx series aluminum alloy comprises an AA3104 aluminum alloy.
7 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises 0.05-0.25 wt. % Cu, up to 0.8 wt. % Fe, 0.8-1.3 wt. % Mg, 0.8-1.4 wt. % Mn, up to 0.6 wt. % Si, up to 0.1 wt. % Ti, up to 0.25 wt. % Zn, up to 0.05 wt. % impurities, and Al.
8 . The aluminum alloy product of any claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a thickness of less than about 4 mm.
9 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum alloy product is an aluminum can body.
10 . A method of making an aluminum can body, comprising:
contacting the aluminum alloy product of claim 1 with a cupping press to form a cup comprising a cup inner surface corresponding to the second surface and having a cup inner surface average surface roughness and a cup outer surface corresponding to the first surface and having a cup outer surface average surface roughness, wherein the cup inner surface average surface roughness is greater than the cup outer surface average surface roughness;
contacting the cup inner surface with a punch sleeve and contacting the cup outer surface with an ironing die; and
ironing the cup to a desired height.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the cup has walls and the method further comprises trimming the walls to form the can body, wherein the can body has a can body inner surface and a can body outer surface.
12 . The method of claim 10 or 11 , wherein the cup outer surface average surface roughness is less than 0.4 μm.
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the cup inner surface average surface roughness is greater than or equal to 0.4 μm.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the aluminum can body comprises an inner surface having a can body inner surface average surface roughness and an outer surface having a can body outer surface average surface roughness, wherein the can body inner surface average surface roughness is at least 20% greater than the can body outer surface average surface roughness.
15 . An aluminum alloy product comprising a surface percent isotropy of greater than 80% as measured by confocal microscopy, and comprising a formability distortion of less than 10%.
16 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 15 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises an isotropy of greater than 95%.
17 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 15 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a 5xxx series aluminum alloy.
18 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 17 , wherein the 5xxx series aluminum alloy comprises a 5182 aluminum alloy.
19 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 15 , wherein the aluminum alloy product is an aluminum can end.
20 . The aluminum alloy product of claim 15 , wherein the aluminum alloy product comprises a Texture Aspect Ratio (Str) value of greater than 0.7, according to ISO 25178.