Wear and Corrosion in the Forming of Beverage Cans

Oil/water emulsion are used as lubricant and coolant in the body-making operations during DWI (Drawn and Wall Ironed) beverage can manufacturing. The presence of water during forming operation may potentially lead to corrosion of the tools, which are usually made out of high speed steel (HSS) or carbide alloys such as WC-Co. The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the importance of corrosion phenomena in the degradation of HSS during the forming process of aluminium cans in the body-maker. The study was focused on the interactions between mechanical and chemical degradation phenomena which may lead, under rubbing conditions, to significant higher corrosion rates than under static corrosion conditions. The wear and corrosion behaviour of high speed steel was studiedin different body-maker lubricants at several loads by using a reciprocating motion wear test rig equipped with an electrochemical cell. Electrochemical techniques allows one to distinguish between material loss due to mechanical mechanisms and to electrochemical phenomena (wear accelerated corrosion) occurring during sliding of metals in corrosive environments. The results show that wear accelerated corrosion may contribute significantly to the degradation of the tool material.