In this paper the effect of the boundary conditions on the stability of thin-walled aerosol cans under axial pressure is investigated. The main objective is to outline the main characteristics of this highly nonlinear mechanical problem and to present methods to simulate the buckling of cans with different boundary conditions. Due to the numerical difficulties coming from the contact between the can and different components of the machines, the effect of the different supports of the can is investigated on the crushing (or buckling) force at which the loss of stability occurs. The commercial finite element software Abaqus is used to solve the problems and to present the efficiency of FE codes in the design process of cans.

In this paper the effect of the boundary conditions on the stability of thin-walled aerosol cans under axial pressure is investigated. The main objective is to outline the main characteristics of this highly nonlinear mechanical problem and to present methods to simulate the buckling of cans with different boundary conditions. Due to the numerical difficulties coming from the contact between the can and different components of the machines, the effect of the different supports of the can is investigated on the crushing (or buckling) force at which the loss of stability occurs. The commercial finite element software Abaqus is used to solve the problems and to present the efficiency of FE codes in the design process of cans.