6

th
World Congresses of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization
Rio de Janeiro, 30 May - 03 June 2005, Brazil




Design Optimization of a Metallic Package

Rafael Mattar Machiaverni
1
, Fernando Viegas Stump
2
, Emilio Carlos Nelli Silva
3

Department of Mechatronics and Mechanical Systems Engineering, University of So Paulo, So Paulo, Brazil,
(1) rafael.machiaverni@poli.usp.br, (2) fernando.stump@poli.usp.br, (3) ecnsilva@usp.br

1. Abstract
One of the limitations to the development of metallic package in industry is the high cost associated with the launching of new
models. This cost is due to the large number of prototype tests that must be done until a solution that satisfies functioning
requirements with the least cost is found. This work presents a systematic methodology for designing optimized metallic packages
based on Response Surface Method (RSM) associated with Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation of products homologation tests,
using LS-DYNA explicit time integration algorithm to solve a Transient Dynamic Analysis with plasticity and geometrical
nonlinearities. The proposed method is applied to a cylindrical water filled can that can not present leakage after being submitted to a
fall test. Thus, to increase impact energy absorption, circumferential beads are added to body can and its dimensions and position are
defined as design variables. The objective function is defined as the p-norm of the values of the Von Mises stress at the seams of the
body with the cover. Concerning industry application the problem was solved by using tools commonly available at the industrial
environment. An optimal design package was obtained, using Central Composite Design (CCD) to determine the design points for
the RSM, and parameters of the methodology are discussed. To demonstrate the methodology efficiency, results are compared with
standard configurations, showing reduction of around 50% in the stress levels at the critical area of the can.
2. Keywords: package design, response surface, finite element method, transient analysis, explicit solver

3. Introduction
The high cost associated with the launching of new models is a major limitation to the development of metallic package in industry.
An important part of this cost is due to the large number of prototype tests that must be done until a convenient solution, that satisfies
the functioning requirements of each type of package with the least cost, is found. Those tests in general require manufacturing of
special tools for the package manufacturing and are performed because of the difficulty in obtaining analytical methods to describe
the complex can behavior [1]. In the literature, this difficulty has been overwhelmed by the application of numerical methods to
simulate the mechanical behavior of the package. Yuans and Liang [2] has used the Finite Element Method (FEM) in a non-linear
static analysis of the process of sterilization of metallic packages. Reid et al. [3] have simulated indenting, buckling and piercing of
aluminum beverage cans and the obtained results have been compared with experimental data. In literature [4][5][6] manufacturing
processes of metallic packages have been also modeled and simulated. Therefore, one of the objectives of this work is performing
numerical analysis that reduce the number of prototype tests that must be done to evaluate the performance of metallic packages.
Associated with this, industry has the need of optimizing its products in a systematic way. In the metallic packages field,
optimization may be used essentially to reduce the can volume while restrictions related to the can performance in mechanical tests
are respected. Traversin et al. [7] have performed a reduction of the food can thickness considering panneling and crushing tests
using Parametric Optimization and numerical simulation of the tests. Wang have obtained performance increase in relation to
panneling and crushing tests, keeping the can thickness constant. So, the final objective of this work is to develop a systematic
methodology for the design of metallic packings, based on numerical simulations, using the Finite Element Method (FEM), of a test
done for homologation of such products and in the Method of Parametric Optimization.
This paper is organized as follows. In section 4, the optimization methodology is described, including the definition of the
objective function, the optimization method and the design variables and a description of the Response Surface Method (RSM) and
Design of Experiments (DOE) applied to the problem. In section 5, the numerical analysis of a mechanical test applied to metallic
packages is shown. In section 6 the implementation of the optimization methodology is presented. Finally, in section 7 the
methodology is applied to design optimization of a cylindrical water filled can that can not present leakage after being submitted to a
fall test. Conclusions are presented in section 8.

4. Optimization methodology

4.1. Definition of the objective function
The first step in the development of an optimization methodology for designing optimized metallic packages is the definition of the
objective function, i. e., the figure of merit that must be minimized or maximized. Numerical experiments using FEM (shown in
section 6) and real experiments with prototypes have shown that the critical points in metallic packages submitted to fall tests are the
seams of the body with the cover. From this fact, it may be concluded that it is necessary to obtain a configuration of can that, for a
given thickness and load, presents lower stress levels at the seams points. Thus, the objective function I

is defined as the p-norm of

the values of the Von Mises stress at the nodes of the critical area of the package (Eq.(1)).


p
N
VM,i
p
i 1
( )
I
N

=

(1)

The index I

represents the objective function, which is implicit dependent of the design variables, p is a design parameter equal or


higher than 1,
VM,i
is the Von Mises stress at a certain node at the critical area of the can and N is the number of points at the critical
area.
High values of the parameter p tend to increase the importance of high localized values. Therefore, high values of p can be an
interesting tool to avoid localized stress that can result in package failure. However, if those high localized stress are result of
numerical problems, low values of p would be convenient.
Once the objective function is defined, the following step is to determine the design variables and the structural optimization
method to be used. This discussion is presented in the following section.

4.2. Definition of the optimization method and the design variables
Metallic packages have a fixed shape due to their application, storage and market requirement. Thus, the configuration changes that
can be performed are related to adding beads or stamps to the can body. These additions have resulted in performance increase in
relation to many tests, such as crushing and external pressure [5][6]. Regarding this, it can be stated that the optimization of a
metallic package consists basically in defining optimum values of beads and stamps geometric parameters. Thus, Parametric
Optimization can be considered the most convenient structural optimization method, as long as other methods, such as Shape
Optimization or Topology Optimization, perform changes in the structure shape.
In this work, a design optimization methodology is applied to a cylindrical can submitted to a fall test. In case of cylindrical
metallic packages, usually circumferential beads are applied to the can body to increase mechanical performance. Thus, the design
variables chosen are two beads parameters: the distance between two consecutive peaks (dp) and the distance from the beads to the
border of the can (db). The design variables are shown in Figure 1.


d
b
d
p
Figure 1. Design variables

In the following sections, 4.3 and 4.4, the design procedure of a metallic package is presented.

4.3 Response Surface Method (RSM)
The Parametric Optimization Method is used in this work to obtain the configuration of the can beads that minimizes the value of the
index I
.
. Due to the complex mechanical behavior of the cans during performance tests (such as the fall test presented in section 5), it
is difficult to describe analytically the objective function and its gradients in terms of the design variables. Therefore, it is adequated
to use the Response Surface Method (RSM) [9] associated with the Parametric Optimization procedure. The Response Surface
Method (RSM) combines techniques of curve fitting by regression with optimization using the obtained curves. The RSM initial data
are values of the objective function at some design configurations, in this work obtained by numerical experiments. Using enough
number of those values, which depends on the number of design variables and the type of function used in curve fitting, the RSM
defines a surface that approximates the behavior of the objective function inside a certain design domain.
In this work, second order polynomials are used as fitting curves. Thus, the response surface (y(x
1
,x
2
)) can be described by
Eq.(2), in terms of the design variables:

(2)
2 2
0 1 1 2 2 3 1 4 2 5 1 2
y x x x x x = + + + + + x

Defining new variables x
3
, x
4
and x
5
as x
3
= x
1
2
, x
4
= x
2
2
and x
5
= x
1
x
2
, Eq.(3) can be written as a linear regression [9].

(3)
0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5
y x x x x x = + + + + +

The coefficients
i
s are determined through the least square error method [10]. Using two design variables and n experiments the
coefficients are calculated using Eq. (4):

= (X
T
X)
-1
X
T
Y (4)

where:



0
11 21 51 1 1
12 22 52 2 2
3
1n 2n 5n 4 n
5
1 x x x y
1 x x x y
= , ,
1 x x x y








=

Y X
L
L
M M M O M M
L
= (5)

Once a second order polynomial that approximates the objective function behavior is obtained, the optimal configuration can
be determinated using a variety of mathematical procedures. With the objective of applying tools that are common in the industrial
environment the MATLAB fmincon function was used. The fmincon finds a function optimal value inside a given feasible design
domain.
Now that the procedure for obtaining a polynomial that approximates the objective function has been shown, a method for
defining which experiments must be done to provide initial data for the method will be presented. This problem is solved using a
method called Design of Experiments (DOE).

4.3 Design of Experiments (DOE)
Design of Experiments is used in this work to determine which combinations of design variables must be tested (numerically) to best
evaluate the objective function. As stated in section 4.2, second order polynomials are used as response surfaces. Therefore at least 3
levels of both design variables are needed in DOE, as well as 6 different design points [9]. Among the many classes of experimental
designs found in literature, the most popular is the Central Composite Design (CCD), which is used in this work [9]. A generic CCD
for two design variables is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Generic CCD for two deign variables
x
1
x
2
1 0 0
2 1 1
3 -1 1
4 -1 -1
5 1 -1
6 0
7 0
8 - 0
9 0 -

The parameter is the axial distance that usually varies from 1.0 to k
0.5
, where k is the number of design variables. One may
notice that, for k = 2, when = 1.0, the design points lay in a square, and, for = k
0.5
, the points belong to a common circle. In the
design optimization performed in this work, the value chosen for was k
0.5
. That fact gives the design a property called Rotatability
[9]. In a rotatable design, predicted values that are at the same distance from the design center have the same variance. A graphic
representation of the CCD with k = 2 and = k
0.5
is shown in
Figure 2.
-2
-1
0
1
2
-2 -1 0 1 2
x1
x
2

Figure 2. CCD with k = 2 and k0.5

The points (1,1), (-1,1), (-1,-1) and (1,-1) (Fig.(2)), contributes to the estimation of linear terms and two-factor interactions. The
points (0,k
0.5
), (k
0.5
, 0), (0,-k
0.5
), (-k
0.5
,0) and (0,0) are used in estimation of quadratic terms [9].
In the next section, the numerical procedure used in the simulation of a fall test in metallic can is presented. That procedure is


applied to obtain the values of the objective function used in the Response Surface Method.

5. Numerical simulations
Regarding the industry needs of testing a large number of prototypes in a short amount of time, the package geometry has been
parameterized and an automatic modeling tool was implemented. Combining the Ansys APDL programming language and the
Excel software, a spreadsheet that receive geometry and simulation data and create an macro, written in APDL language, has
been developed. Thus, this macro is loaded in the Ansys software. The Ansys software is used to do the pre and post-processing
of the analysis which is performed by LS-DYNA software [11].
The simulation consists in a fall test of can filled with water. The plastic behavior of the material was took in account, by
employing a bilinear isotropic material. To simulate the water contained in the volume inside the can is discretized in solid elements
(SOLID 164). To simulate the can plate the element SHELL 163, with the C0 triangular shell element formulation, has been applied,
which is based in Mindlin-Reissner plate theory.
To solve the transient analysis the implicit formulation was employed through the LS-DYNA software.

6. Numerical implementation
Considering the theoretical fundamentals discussed in sections 4 and 5, a methodology for the optimized design of metallic packages
was developed. A representation of it is shown in
Figure 3.





























Figure 3. Flow-chart of the optimization methodology
Design of Experiments
Numerical simulation of the tests
Calculation of the Response Surface
Determination of the optimal can configuration
Numerical simulation of the optimal configuration obtained
Yes
Is the Response Surface
prediction satisfactory?
No
Optimal configuration manufacturing
Definition of the objective function and the design variables

As it can be seen in
Figure 3, the proposed methodology considers a test of the adequation of the response surface, comparing, for the optimal
configuration, the values of the objective function predicted using the RSM and obtained by numerical simulation. If the result is not
satisfactory, a new design of experiments is performed. This new DOE can use the already obtained values of the objective function
and new design points near the optimal configuration. In this way, the response surface definition is performed by an iterative
procedure, as successive refinements are made near the optimal region.
Design stages after the manufacturing of the optimal configuration are not considered in this work, However, they may include
validation of the numerical simulation procedure, comparing numerical results with those obtained by real test with prototypes.
In the next section, the proposed methodology is applied to a cylindrical water filled can that can not present leakage after
being submitted to a fall test.

7. Design case study
Using the optimization methodology described in section 6, the design optimization of a metallic package was performed. The
metallic package used in this work is a cylindrical can. It must pass through a free fall test, and present no leakage after it. That kind
of test is common in industry and it is necessary for the homologation of a variety of metallic packages. In this work, the can is
vertically oriented and its center is at 0,4 m from the contact surface at the beginning of the test.
As discussed in section 4.1, the objective function is defined as the p-norm of the values of the Von Mises stress at the points


of the seam of the body with the cover of the can and the design variables are beads parameters: the distance between two
consecutive peaks (d
p
) and the distance from the beads to the border of the can (d
b
).
The can considered for the optimization has the following dimensions:

Table 2: Can geometry
Can diameter 168mm
Can height 187mm
Can body metal thickness 0.3mm
Can end metal thickness 0.32

The can materials applied have the following properties:

Table 3: Material properties
Can Metal
Young Modulus 200GPa
Poissons coefficient 0.3
Yield stress 419MPa
Tangent Modulus 129MPa
Density 7800Kg/m
3

The water was modeled with a Bulk Modulus of 2210 MPa.
The first step in the Design of Experiments is the definition of the design variables upper and lower limits. Due to
manufacturing requirements, the following limits were defined:
1.0 mm d
b
13.0 mm;
5.0 mm d
p
13.0 mm.
As the design variable limits are defined, it is now possible to use the Design of Experiments based in the CCD described in
section 4.3. In this design case, due to the upper and lower limits of the design variables, the design points are those presented in
Table 3.

Table 4. Design points to be simulated
Generic CCD with k = 2, = k
0.5
Design points
x
1
x
2
d
b
d
p
1 0 0 7.0 10.0
2 1 1 11.2 13.5
3 -1 1 2.8 13.5
4 -1 -1 2.8 6.5
5 1 -1 11.2 6.5
6 2
0.5
0 13.0 10.0
7 0 2
0.5
7.0 15.0
8 -2
0.5
0 1.0 10.0
9 0 -2
0.5
7.0 5.0

With the modeling tool described in section 4 nine models were generated and its performance analyzed with the LS-DYNA.
Some especial care was considered to generate the mesh. As can be seen in figure 4 the mesh in the bottom of the can is more refined
than in the top side. Thus, it is possible to put at least six rows of elements between two beads peaks. This allows the software to
predict the plastic deformation of the regions. An example of a mesh is shown in Figure 4.


Figure 4. Mesh of the model, and detail in of the mesh in the beads

With these models the analysis were performed and the values of the objective function were evaluated 0.3 s after the impact
with the floor.
To illustrate the simulation, Figure 5a shows the initial boundary conditions and Figure 5b shows the Von Mises stress after


0,3 s from the impact.


(a) (b)
Figure 5. Illustration of the fall test: (a) Initial conditions; (b) Von Mises stresses 0,3 s after the impact.

The values of the objective function at the design points are presented in Table 5, for three different values of the parameter p:
1, 10 and 100.

Table 5. Simulations results
Design Points Objective function value (MPa)
d
b
(mm) d
p
(mm) p = 1 p = 10 p = 100
7.0 10.0 250.43 330.32 408.25
11.2 13.5 239.20 331.22 409.70
2.8 13.5 179.89 266.08 369.30
2.8 6.5 283.94 344.64 414.49
11.2 6.5 275.60 336.78 404.80
13.0 10.0 258.07 329.48 402.18
7.0 15.0 247.55 332.08 428.69
1.0 10.0 175.27 252.65 376.08
7.0 5.0 262.57 337.67 417.02

Using the RSM procedure described in section 4.3 with the objective function values three response surfaces are obtained. For
p = 1:

y
p=1
= 197.01 -19.591d
b
+ 21.824d
p
+ 0.23689d
b
2
1.1947d
p
2
+ 1.1505d
b
d
p
(6)

For p = 10:

y
p=10
= 242.28 -18.037d
b
+ 26.280d
p
+ 0.20770d
b
2
1.4533d
p
2
+ 1.2416d
b
d
p
(7)

For p = 100:

y
p=100
= 375.97 -13.742d
b
+ 14.106d
p
+ 0.32337d
b
2
0.88326d
p
2
+ 0.85192d
b
d
p
(8)

The response surfaces for p = 1 and p = 100 can be seen in Figure 6.




d
b
(mm)
Figure 6. Response Surface for p=1 and p=100
d
p
(mm) d
b
(mm) d
p
(mm)

The obtained Response Surfaces for different values of the parameter p are similar, as it can be seen in Figure 6. That fact
indicates that, in this problem, the presence of high localized stress shall not occur. Using the MATLAB function fmincon, the
minimal of the three surface responses were obtained, inside the design domain:
y
p=1,min
= 136.43 MPa, at point (13,5);
y
p=10,min
= 218.67 MPa, at point (13,5);
y
p=100,min
= 355.80 MPa, at point (13,5).
It should be noticed, also, that both design restrictions are active at the final of the optimization procedure. The parameter d
b

assumes its highest possible value and d
p
its lowest value inside the given domain. The optimal configuration is shown in Figure 7.


Figure 7. Model of the optimal configuration

Observing Figure 7 it is possible to understand the effect of the beads as kind of spring that plasticize during the impact and
minimize the stress in the seam of the can.

8. Conclusions
A methodology for the design optimization of metallic packages was presented, considering a performance test usually done in such
products. Due to tests characteristics, LS-DYNA explicit time integration algorithm was used to solve a Transient Dynamic Analysis
with plasticity and geometrical nonlinearities. Using results obtained by numerical simulations, a response surface that approximates
the behavior of the objective function within a given domain is defined. A tool usually available at the industrial environment, the
MATLAB function fmincon, is used to find the optimal can configuration.
The proposed methodology is applied to a cylindrical water filled can that can not present leakage after being submitted to a
fall test. The design case study shows that the application of beads in can body modifies significantly the stress level at the package
critical area, the seams of the can with the body. In the optimal can configuration the distance from the beads to the border of the can
is the maximum and the distance between two consecutive peaks is the minimum inside the given domain. The optimization
procedure leads to reduction of around 50% in the stress levels at the critical area of the can, showing that the presented methodology
consists in an efficient tool to the design of metallic packages.





9. Acknowledgement
We thank University of So Paulo (Brazil), FAPESP - Fundao de Amparo Pesquisa do Estado de So Paulo; CNPq - Conselho
Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfico e Tecnolgico - Brazil, and CAPES - Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nvel
Superior for the financial support.

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