Technical Bulletin
Oil Canning in Metal Roof and Metal Wall Systems
Many uncontrollable factors contribute to oil-canning and no panel manufacturer, fabricator, or installer can assure the total prevention of oil canning on any given project. With careful attention to the production, material selection, panel design, and installation practice, the tendency for oil canning can be minimized.
Oil Canning can be defined as visible waviness in the flat areas of metal roofing and metal wall panels. In technical terms, oil canning is referred to as elastic buckling (more commonly known as “stress wrinkling”). Oil canning can occur in any type of metal panels: steel, aluminum, zinc,
or copper. For purposes here, all four terms shall be considered synonymous: Waviness, elastic buckling, stress wrinkling and oil canning. The degree of waviness can be difficult to measure, but may be visually apparent, especially under specific lighting conditions.
