“…Whereas several analyses in literature have concentrated on the manufacturing and performance of cans, e.g. (Chu and Biondich, 1994;Courbon, 2003;Gotoh et al, 2003;Hackworth and Henshaw, 2000;Reid et al, 2001;Schü nemann et al, 1996;Utsunomiya and Nishimura, 2000;van der Aa et al, 2001;von Diemar, 2000), little work has been done on the opening behaviour for this particular class of cans. To this purpose a plasticity model with a softening yield stress will be used.…”