Driving control technology for a continuous annealing line

This paper introduces AC variable-speed driving control technology application in the continuous annealing line,including the drive system configuration,the driving control characteristics of CAL and the main control functions of the drive system.Firstly introduces the main process of the continuous annealing line,the features of the 6SE70 series common DC bus drive system and the G150 series drive system. Secondly,for the continuous annealing line,there are more strict requirements for the continuity of production and more special requirements for the drive control characteristics.We do a lot of improvement and standardization for the driving control functions and the interfaces of the line automation control system. This paper discusses the communication interface specifications and the dimension transformation methods between the drive and the basic automation system.The detail dimension transformation methods and calculation method about the line speed setting and the actual roller dimension setting are given,and detail description for the calculation method of the reference speed in the drive.Article also emphasized illustrates realizing and testing methods of inertia compensation of equipment in the drives,and standardize the value of line accelerate and decelerate rate,and the inertia test method and inertia compensation coefficient calculation method is introduced in this paper.For the bridge rollers and furnace help rollers load balance control,this paper presents two different load balance control strategies,the load balance control principle for bridge rollers which data communicates from main station to slave stations by Simolink,and the load balance control principle for furnace help rollers which use droop control.The different characteristics of those two methods are stated in detail.

Study on strip buckling in continuous annealing lines/hot galvanizing

In continuous annealing lines/hot galvanizing,strips are guided by upper and lower rolls in an alternate up and down vertical motion.This kind of process consisting of heating,soaking,and cooling furnaces(or zones) has several advantages in terms of productivity and product quality.Main problems encountered in continuous annealing lines are misguiding and formation of buckling.The strip buckling causes the strip to be rejected and,in the worst case,the strip breaks and the continuous annealing lines are compelled to stop.In this paper the elastic-plastic model of the strip traveling and the corresponding boundary condition were constructed dependant on the theory of mechanic.Simulations are performed in two steps.First,a homogeneous longitudinal tensile stress is applied at one end of the strip,the other end of the strip and the roll are restricted.In the second step,the applied tension remains constant.A uniform displacement is applied to the other end of the strip and a rotation to the roll. The transverse compressive stress,the buckling formation during strip traveling process,the location for the buckling taking place and the buckling criterion were investigated systematically.The result shows that the transverse compressive stress increases with the increase of the tensile stress and the crown of the tapered roll. Because the contact area between the tapered roll and the strip increase with the decrease of the crown,the tensile stress distribution is more homogeneous in the transverse direction of the strip.An additional transverse compressive stress is created and a buckling is also observed due to the friction during the strip motion in the second step.Once the buckling is appearance,it is very hard to be removed only through decreasing the applied longitudinal tension,because the strip wrinkle still keeps high level due to the effect of the buckled strip,the wrinkle would evolve into buckling eventually.The buckling formation process predicted by the finite element model is very similar to those observed in industrial processing lines.It takes place on the cylindrical part of the tapped roll and the buckling is moving to the middle part of the tapped roll with the increase of the crown,its width is about 2-4 mm.The criterion for the buckle occurrence is also discussed,in the prescribed situation,the transverse shell curvature increases with the strip displacement,if the transverse shell curvature reaches 0.1 mm^(-1), the buckling would take place.

Detection and analysis of gas tightness of continuous annealing furnaces

When a cold rolled strip is being treated in a continuous annealing furnace which is full of protective gas, the gas tightness of the furnace body, the connected facilities and the gas channels become an important indicator that directly affects the product＇s surface quality and shows the technical level of the design, the manufacture and the installation. By considering the problems of the gas tightness of a vertical annealing furnace in the installation and maintenance, this thesis evaluates the gas tightness indicator and gas tightness related level of the furnace body and the circulation duct, while studying and analyzing the technologies of negative-pressure leak detection and sealing.

Effect of continuous annealing temperature on the microstructure and mechanical property of an aluminum killed steel

The continuous annealing process of a typical aluminum killed steel was investigated. A cold rolled sheet was annealed continuously at holding temperature ranging from 580 to 760 ℃. The microstructures were analyzed in detail based on contiuous cooling transformation（ CCT） curves that were simulated with JM artP ro softw are. The results show ed that recrystallization and perlitic transformations caused a diversity of microstructures and mechanical properties. In comparison with annealed steel that was produced from insufficient recrystallization,annealed steel produced from sufficient recrystallization had more isometric grains and exhibited low er strength and higher ductility. Higher annealing temperatures than A_1 provided steel with lamellar pearlite zones,large ferrite grains,low strength,and high ductility. The results are attributed to the property optimization of the steel.

Deviation Prevention Ability of Rollers in Continuous Annealing Furnace and Application

In order to reduce the strip deviation in the practical production procedure in the continuous annealing fur- nace, a dynamic simulation model was built through finite element method （FEM） to conduct the quantification cal- culation of the effect of regular roller contour types on strip deviation. The result reveals that comparing to the flat roller, forward roller contour can prevent the strip deviation to some degree. In terms of prevention ability, double- taper roller is the strongest, single-taper roller and crown roller are less stronger; and more roller contour values raise the prevention ability. Accordingly, optimization method was applied to continuous annealing furnace, and it largely reduced accidents such as strip break and limited speed that are caused by the deviation.

Modeling of Strip Heating Process in Vertical Continuous Annealing Furnace

The mechanism for heat transfer of radiation is usually adopted to heat strip in vertical continuous annealing furnace. The rate of heat transfer among strip and other objects can be hugely affected by the parameters of strip speed, geometry factors and radiating characteristic of surfaces of strip, radiating tubes and walls of furnace. A model including all parameters is proposed for calculating the heat transfer coefficient, predicting the strip tempera- ture and boundary temperature of strip through analyzing these parameters. The boundary temperature is a important datum and different from average arithmetic value of temperature of strip and temperature in furnace. Also, the model can be used to analyze the relation for temperature of strip and heat transfer coefficient, total heat transfer quantity and heating time. The model is built by using the radiating heat transfer rate, the Newtonrs law of cooling, and lumped system analysis. The results of calculation are compared to the data from production line. The comparisons indicate that the model can well predict the heating process. The model is already applied for process control in pro- duction line. Also, this research will provide a new method for analyzing the radiation heat transfer.

Effect of Continuous Annealing on Microstructure and Bake Hardening Behavior of Low Carbon Steel

The influences of the heating rate, annealing temperature and soaking time during continuous annealing on the microstructure evolution and bake hardening behavior of the low carbon steel were investigated. After 2% pres- training, bake treatment （180 ℃ × 20 min） was carried out to measure BH （bake hardening） values. The results showed that, with the increase of the annealing temperature, the grain size increased except for annealing in the in- tercritical region. Furthermore, the BH value increased and the mean grain size reduced with increasing the heating rate from 5 to 80 ℃/s. The BH value was very low before complete recrystallization. After a significant decrease from 630 to 720 ℃ , the BH value enhanced when the steel was annealed at 750 ℃. With the increase of the soaking time from 20 to 100 s, the BH value reduced linearly due to the segregation of solute C atoms.

Computer Simulation of the Continuous Annealing Recrystallization for Cold-Rolled Strip in Galvanizing Line

The continuous heating transformation program is developed to investigate the influence of continuous annealing technological parameters on recrystalization for cold-rolled strip in galvanizing line.This program can be used for the calculation of the continuous annealing temperature field of strip steel,determination of the start and end time of recrystallization in continuous heating process,and procurement of the continuous heating transformation diagram.The temperature field for continuous annealing is simulated by means of finite difference method.Based on the Scheil superposition principle,the continuous heating transformation curve is obtained by using time temperature transformation(TTT)curve which is measured experimentally.The developed program has been used in practice,and the strip speed on production line increases bv more than 10%.

Effect of annealing parameters on mechanical properties of cold-rolled martensitic steel sheets

Cold-rolled martensitic steel sheets produced on continuous annealing lines with water quenching facility,have advantages of high strength and low alloying element contents.These are in good accordance with the trend of light-weighting and fuel saving for automotive steel.In this article,a cold-rolled martensitic steel is studied to investigate the effect of annealing parameters on its mechanical properties.It is found that the quenching temperature and the slow cooling speed as well as the overageing temperature have significant influence on the strength of the experimental steel.The temperature zone at which the austenite decomposition is slow or has not started may be chosen as the quenching temperature to ensure the steel’s strength stability.The slow cooling speed also influences the steel’s strength greatly.A high cooling rate will lead to significantly higher strength.Tempering would decrease the steel’s tensile strength but would increase its yield strength.

APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL SIMULATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOT WORKING PROCESSES

Modelling has become a more and more valuable tool in the design, control and development of steel processing. Empirical regression equations, physically based approachs, artificial neural networks and hybrid models are being theied in computer modelling. In all cases, relevant data are necessary, which can be most economically obtained by physical simulation. Physical simulation with a Gleeble simulator has been used in a large number of tasks at the University of Oulu for ten years in cooperotion with the Finnish metals industry. Some examples of these will be described and discussed below, such as the optimization of the recrystallization controlled rolling process, the improvement of the hot strength model for the control of coiling tension and the optimization of continuous strip annealing schedules.Finally,brief remarks will be then on a couple of projects now under way.

Discussion on the heat treatment process of cold rolled Q345 steel in laboratory

A new kind of DP steel with about 40% martensite in matrix was developed from cold rolled Q345 steel by continuous annealing simulation.Microstructure and mechanical properties obtained by conventional heat treatment certified that the microstructure matrix is composed of ferrite,pearlite and martensite,the samples exhibited high tensile strength and low yield ratio,however,the elongation is very low,only about 10%.Due to the high carbon content,low soaking temperature and relatively higher rapid cooling start temperature should be adopted for the new process.

Cause analysis of and solution to furnace roller pick-up in the high strength automotive steel sheet processing line

Cold-rolled high strength steel sheets for automobiles contain more Mn and Si based alloy elements, which, under the reducing atmosphere in the annealing furnace, will get enriched on the strip surface. Since the furnace rollers and the strips contact frequently, alloy elements on the roller surface will form hard protuberance. We call this protuberance ＂pick-up＂. In addition, with the increase of the amount of dust in the furnace atmosphere, the occurrence of furnace roller pick-up will also increase. Through chemical reaction and physical accumulation analysis combined with practical experience, the causes of pick-up in different furnace sections were analyzed. Methods of preventing furnace roller pick-up in the high strength steel sheet processing line were discussed and solutions to improving the strip surface quality in the continous annealing furnace were provided.

Construction of a 3D meso-structure and analysis of mechanical properties for deposit body medium

For deposit body medium, the internal structural properties may be the controlling factors for the strength of the material and the mechanical response. Based on the results of soil-rock meso-statistics using digital imaging, a simulated annealing algorithm is adopted to expand the meso-structural features of deposit bodies in 3D. The construction of the 3D meso-structure of a deposit body is achieved, and then the particle flow analysis program PFC3 D is used to simulate the mechanical properties of the deposit body. It is shown that with a combination of the simulated annealing algorithm and the statistical feature functions, the randomness and heterogeneity of the rock distribution in the 3D inner structure of deposit body medium can be realized, and the reconstructed structural features of the deposit medium can match the features of the digital images well. The spatial utilizations and the compacting effects of the body-centered cubic, hexagonal close and face-centered packing models are high, so these structures can be applied in the simulations of the deposit structures. However, the shear features of the deposit medium vary depending on the different model constructive modes. Rocks, which are the backbone of the deposit, are the factors that determine the shear strength and deformation modulus of the deposit body. The modeling method proposed is useful for the construction of 3D meso-scope models from 2D meso-scope statistics and can be used for studying the mechanical properties of mixed media, such as deposit bodies.

Property Prediction Using Hierarchical Regression Model Based on Calibration

Redundant information and inaccurate model will greatly affect the precision of quality prediction.A multiphase orthogonal signal correction modeling and hierarchical statistical analysis strategy are developed for the improvement of process understanding and quality prediction.Bidirectional orthogonal signal correction is used to remove the structured noise in both X and Y,which does not contribute to prediction model.The corresponding loading vectors provide good interpretation of the covariant part in X and Y.According to background,hierarchical PLS（Hi-PLS）is used to build regression model of process variables and property variables.This blocking leads to two model levels：the lower level shows the relationship of variables in each annealing furnace using hierarchical PLS based on bidirectional orthogonal signal correction,and the upper level reflects the relationship of annealing furnaces.With analysis of continuous annealing line data,the production precisions of hardness and elongation are improved by comparison of previous method.Result demonstrates the efficiency of the proposed algorithm for better process understanding X and property interpretation Y.

Quality Prediction of Strip Steel Based on Windows-Mean MPLS

A windows-mean multi-way partial-least squares（MPLS）method was proposed to build the strip steel quality prediction model for continuous annealing process.The proposed method can deal with the problem of large time lag in hardness measurement of the strip steel and the difficulties in building mechanism models.Based on the average trajectories of the process variable information,the proposed method was used to realize the strip steel quality prediction.Comparing with the traditional MPLS,the proposed method can eliminate the abundant and redundant process information and reduce the number of the model input variables.Moreover,it can avoid the uneven-length modeling data problem of the traditional MPLS method.The simulation result demonstrates the performance and advantages of the proposed method for predicting the strip steel hardness.