This paper investigates the effects of different bottle opening sizes (28, 33, and 38 mm in diameter) and beverage types (e.g., green tea, carbonated beverage) on the drinking satisfaction of consumers, in order to enhance their comfort levels when drinking from aluminum beverage bottles. A survey of 120 Japanese subjects was conducted, and the 33 mm opening size emerged as the most preferred, irrespective of beverage type. The factor analysis results of the questionnaire show that drinking satisfaction is primarily affected by two common factors: the volume of flow from the bottle to the mouth and the adjustability of the flow. The results of the three-dimensional fluid-dynamics analysis indicate that differences in beverage type could influence what consumers regard as an appropriate flow.

This paper has investigated effects of the bottle opening size on drinking feelings in order to improve the comfort level of consumers when drinking directly from the opening of aluminum bottle. A survey over 120 subjects has been performed based on a drinking test using three kinds of bottles with opening diameters of 28, 33 and 38 mm, respectively. Two questionnaires have been conducted. Statistical analysis results of Questionnaire 1 have shown that 33-mm opening is best for adult consumers with no matter the type of contents, gender and the mouth size. The factor analysis results of Questionnaire 2 based on Kansei Engineering have shown that drinking feeling is affected by two common factors, which considered as the flow from the bottle to the mouth and the flow adjustability. Moreover, the fluid-dynamics analysis model has been developed to simulate the bottled liquid in a drinking action consisting of survey results and experimental observations of consumers' drinking actions. Numerical simulations have been performed to understand how consumers control the flow during the drinking actions. It is found that the consumers usually try to realize the ideal and preferable condition by adjusting the inclination angle of the bottle.

Forming simulations of the can end shell have been implemented based on both of the axisymmetric model and three-dimensional models, for a better understanding of the forming process. The comparison shows that the simulation results agree reasonably well with the experimental observations of the actual forming process. The influence of the loads applied to tools, the clearance between tools, the shape of the tool profile and the position of tools have been investigated, based on the axisymmetric model to save computational time. The design optimization method based on the numerical simulations have been applied to search the optimum design points, in order to reduce the thinning subjected to the constraints of the geometric shape of the shell and the suppression of wrinkles. The optimization results show that the thinning can be improved up to 4% by optimizing the forming route, adjusting the clearance and the load, and modifying the tool shape. NomenclatureH 1 = Unit depth of the shell H 2 = Lip height of the shell H 3 = Panel depth of the shell P 1 = load applied to the upper piston P 2 = load applied to the die center P 3 = load applied to the lower piston P 4 = load applied to the panel punch E = Young's modulus of the blank ν = Poisson's ratio of the blank σ 0 = yielding stress of the blank T 0 = initial thickness of the blank before forming T min = minimum thickness of the shell after forming ε 0 = minimum circumferential plastic strain of the shell= rate of change in the load applied to the panel punch

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