Development of Draw and Wall Ironing Lubricant Utilizing Micelle Formation (Lubricant for Aluminium Beverage Can)

Draw and wall ironing (DI) is widely adopted for manufacturing of an aluminium beverage can. In the DI process, a large amount of DI lubricant is used in order to prevent to weld of metal matter board and form metallic mold. A synthetic ester emulsion type lubricant is mainly used as conventional DI lubricant, because the lubricant has high lubricity. In recent years, high safety and high hygiene of DI lubricant are strongly demanded and, however, the conventional lubricant cannot meet the demand. Then, to overcome the above problem, DI lubricant which consists only of the substance described in the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) standard list was developed. And micelle formation of fatty acid and alkanolamine was introduced to the lubricant in the hopes of bringing high lubricity. A series of frictional experiments revealed that the friction-wear properties for aluminum is correlated as well as the micelle formation of fatty acid and alkanolamine. Furthermore, it was found that the newly developed lubricant has the lubricity superior to commercial lubricant.