Opti mization and Model of Laminar Cooling Control Systemfor Hot Strip Mills

The structure of laminar cooling control system for hot rolling was introduced and the control mode, cooling strategy, segment tracking and model recalculation were analyzed. The parameters of air/water cooling models were optimized by regressing the data gathering in situ, and satisfactory effect was obtained. The coiling temperature can be controlled within ±15℃.

Self-Learning and Its Application to Laminar Cooling Model of Hot Rolled Strip

The mathematical model for online controlling hot rolled steel cooling on run-out table （ROT for abbreviation） was analyzed, and water cooling is found to be the main cooling mode for hot rolled steel. The calculation of the drop in strip temperature by both water cooling and air cooling is summed up to obtain the change of heat transfer coefficient. It is found that the learning coefficient of heat transfer coefficient is the kernel coefficient of coiler temperature control （CTC） model tuning. To decrease the deviation between the calculated steel temperature and the measured one at coiler entrance, a laminar cooling control self-learning strategy is used. Using the data acquired in the field, the results of the self-learning model used in the field were analyzed. The analyzed results show that the self-learning function is effective.

Numerical Simulation of Temperature Field and Thermal Stress Field of Work Roll During Hot Strip Rolling

Based on the thermal conduction equations, the three-dimensional （3D） temperature field of a work roll was investigated using finite element method （FEM）. The variations in the surface temperature of the work roll during hot strip rolling were described, and the thermal stress field of the work roll was also analyzed. The results showed that the highest roll surface temperature is 593 ℃, and the difference between the minimum and maximum values of thermal stress of the work roll surface is 145.7 MPa. Furthermore, the results of this analysis indicate that temperature and thermal stress are useful parameters for the investigation of roll thermal fatigue and also for improving the quality of strip during rolling.

Comprehensive contour prediction model of work rolls in hot wide strip mill

The predictive calculation of comprehensive contour of work rolls in the on-line strip shape control model during hot rolling consists of two important parts of wear contour calculation and thermal contour calculation, which have a direct influence on the ac- curacy of shape control. A statistical wear model and a finite difference thermal contour model of work rolls were described. The comprehensive contour is the equivalence treatment of the sum of grinding, wear, and thermal contours. This comprehensive contour calculation model has been applied successfully in the real on-line strip shape control model. Its high precision has been proved through the large amounts of actual roll profile measurements and theoretical analyses. The hit rates （percent of shape index satisfying re- quirement） of crown and head flatness of the strips rolled, by using the shape control model, which includes the comprehensive contour calculation model, have about 16% and 10% increase respectively, compared to those of strips rolled by using manual operation.

PROFILE AND FLATNESS CONTROL SYSTEM IN 1700mm HOT STRIP MILLS OF ANSTEEL

Varying contact-length backup roll and linearly variable crown work roll are provided for improving the mill performance of profile and flatness control. Integrated with theses technologies, relevant profile and flatness control models are developed for hot strip mills on the basis of large amount of finite element calculation. These models include shape setup control model in process control system, bending force feedforward control model, crown feedback control model and flatness feedback control model in basis automation system. Such a profile and flatness control system with full functions is applied in 1 700 mm industrial hot strip mills of Ansteel. Large amount of production data shows that the crown precision with the tolerance of±18 μm is over 90%, the strip percentage which the actual flatness is within ±25 I-unit surpasses 96%, and general roll consume is reduced by 28% by using the profile and fiatness control system. In addition, schedule-free rolling is realized.

Three-Di mensional Model for Strip Hot Rolling

A three-dimensional model for strip hot rolling was developed, in which the plastic deformation of strip, the thermal crown of rolls, roll deflection and flattening were calculated by rigid-plastic finite element method, finite difference method, influential function method and elastic finite element method respectively. The roll wear was taken into consideration. The model can provide detailed information such as rolling pressure distribution, contact pressure distribution between backup rolls and work rolls, deflection and flattening of work rolls, lateral distribution of strip thickness, and lateral distribution of front and back tensions. The finish rolling on a 1 450 mm hot strip mill was simulated.

THE MICROSTRUCTURAL BANDING IN THE CENTER OF HOT ROLLLNG STRIP

The microstructural banding in steels is often found in hot rolling strips, which plays a very important role in mechanical properties. Much work has been done to investigate how the microstructural banding is formed during hot rolling. In the present study, the microstructure of hot rolling strips was examined in term of optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Electron probe microanalysis was also used to decide the distribution of microchemical bands, by this means, the phases in these strips were found to be ferrite and pearlite. The average distance between the carbon lamellas in pearlite is about 0.06-0.1μm. It is also shown that microstructural banding in hot rolled carbon steel was closely related to the segregation of manganese and silicon into those bands. Based on the transformation kinetic, the simulated results pointed out that the thermodynamic stability of austenite would increase with the increasing of Mn, which led to a decrease of ferrite growth rate. The effect of Mn on the decomposition of austenite is attributed to segregation of Mn atoms along the ferrite/austenite phase boundary which causes a strong solute drag effect. The addition of Mn to steel decreases the activity of austenite, thereby it is beneficial to the formation of non-equilibrium phase, such as degenerate pearlite. The formation of banded structure on the hot rolled process was discussed.

Quantitative analysis on strengthening mechanism of ultra-thin hot strip of low carbon steel produced by CSP technique

Based on experimental data of positron annihilation technology, electrolyticdissolution technique, electron back-scattered pattern, etc. and by analysis the strengtheningfactors, the strengthening mechanism of ultra-thin hot strip of low carbon steel produced by CSP(Compact Strip Production) technique was investigated. The value of each strengthening mechanism andits contribution percentage to yield strength were achieved. The results show that refinementstrengthening is the predominant strengthening mode; precipitation strengthening and dislocationstrengthening are second to it, their contributions to yield strength are almost equal.

Analysis of the thermal profile of work rolls in the hot strip rolling process

A 2-dimension axisymmetric model was developed by the finite-differencemethod, which can be used to predict the transient temperature field and thermal profile of workrolls in the hot strip rolling process. To demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the solutiondeveloped, the calculation results were compared with the production data of a 1700 mm hot striprolling mill and good agreement was found between them. The effect of strip width and roll shiftingon the thermal expansion of the work rolls was studied. It is found that the strip width has markedeffect on the efficient thermal crown. Initially, when the rolling strip changes from narrow towide, a bigger efficient thermal crown can be quickly achieved; afterwards, when the rolling stripchanges from wide to narrow, not only the influence of uneven wear can be reduced but also theexcessive efficient thermal crown can be avoided. It is also found that the work roll shifting has adeterminate but not obvious effect on the reduction of the efficient thermal crown, and will makethe strip shape unstable without being used properly.

Prediction of Rolling Load in Hot Strip Mill byInnovations Feedback Neural Networks

Because the structure of the classical mathematical model of rolling load is simple, even with the self-adapting technology, it is difficult to accommodate the increasing dimensional accuracy. Motivated by this fact, an Innovations Feedback Neural Networks （IFNN） was presented based on the idea of Kalman prediction. The neural networks used the Back Propagation （BP） algorithm and applied it to the prediction of rolling load in hot strip mill. The theoretical results and the off-line simulation show that the prediction capability of IFNN is better than that of normal BP networks, namely, for the prediction of the rolling load in hot strip mill, the prediction precision of IFNN is higher than that of normal BP networks. Finally, a relative complete rolling load prediction system was developed on Windows 2003/XP platform using the OOP programming method and the SQL server2000 database. With this sys- tem, the rolling load of a 1700 strip mill was calculated, and the prediction results obtained correspond well with the field data. It shows that IFNN is valid for rolling load prediction.

Dynamic matrix predictive control for a hydraulic looper system in hot strip mills

Controlling the looper height and strip tension is important in hot strip mills because these variables affect both the strip quality and strip threading. Many researchers have proposed and applied a variety of control schemes for this problem, but the increasingly strict market demand for strip quality requires further improvements. This work describes a dynamic matrix predictive control(DMC) strategy that realizes the optimal control of a hydraulic looper multivariable system. Simulation experiments for a traditional controller and the proposed DMC controller were conducted using MATLAB/Simulink software. The simulation results show that both controllers acquire good control effects with model matching. However, when the model is mismatched, the traditional controller produces an overshoot of 32.4% and a rising time of up to 2120.2 ms, which is unacceptable in a hydraulic looper system. The DMC controller restricts the overshoot to less than 0.08%, and the rising time is less than 48.6 ms in all cases.

Element Tracking Strategies for Hot Strip Laminar Cooling Control

Feedforward control is the core to control function in the cooling process of hot strip. One of the most important tasks in feedforward control is to determine the arrival time of the strip at various locations on the runout table for effective control. Based on the principles of element tracking and tracking strategies for variable rolling speed and constant rolling speed, a simple diagonal tracking method for an existing hot strip mill was proposed and tested. The test results show that the proposed strategies are effective for improving tracking control.

Advanced run-out table cooling technology based on ultra fast cooling and laminar cooling in hot strip mill

In order to meet the severe requirements of market and reduce production costs of high quality steels,advanced run-out table cooling based on ultra fast cooling(UFC) and laminar cooling(LC) was proposed and applied to industrial production.Cooling mechanism of UFC and LC was introduced first,and then the control system and control models were described.By using UFC and LC,low-cost Q345B strips had been produced in a large scale,and industrial trials of producing low-cost dual phase strips were completed successfully.Application results show that the ultra fast cooling is uniform along the strip width and length,and does not affect the flatness of strips.The run-out table cooling system runs stably with a high precision,and makes it possible for the user to develop more high quality steels with low costs.

Adaptive threading strategy based on rolling characteristics analysis in hot strip rolling

In order to improve the threading stability and the head thickness precision in tandem hot rolling process, an adaptive threading strategy was proposed. The proposed strategy was realized by the rolling characteristics analysis, and factors which affect the rolling force and the final thickness were determined and analyzed based on the influence coefficients calculation process. An objective function consisting of the influenced factors was founded, and the disturbance quantity was obtained by minimizing the function with the Nelder-Mead simplex method, and the proposed adaptive threading strategy was realized based on the calculation results. The adaptive threading strategy has been applied to one 7-stand hot tandem mill successfully, actual statistics data show that the predicted rolling force prediction in the range of +/- 5.0% is improved to 97.8%, the head thickness precision in the range of +/- 35 mu m is improved to 98.5%, and the threading stability and the head thickness precision are enhanced to a high level.

VCR and ASR technology for profile and flatness control in hot strip mills

The roll contour pattern and variety of work and backup rolls in service and its effect on profile and flatness control performance in 1 700 mm hot strip mill at Wuhan Iron and Steel(Group) Corporation were tested and analyzed by the developed finite element models of different typical roll contours configurations.A rather smooth local work roll contour near strip edges and an increase in rolled length can be obtained by application of long stroke work roll shifting system with conventional work roll contours that is incapable of the crown control.In comparison with the conventional backup and work roll contours configuration,the crown control range by the roll bending force enhances by 12.79% and the roll gap stiffness increases by 25.26% with the developed asymmetry self-compensating work rolls(ASR) and varying contact backup rolls(VCR).A better strip profile and flatness quality,an increase in coil numbers within the rolling campaign and a significant alleviated effect of severe work roll wear contours on performance of edge drop control are achieved by the application of ASR with crown control and wear control ability in downstream stand F5 and VCR in all stands of 1 700 mm hot strip mill.

Morphology transformation of primary strip α phase in hot working of two-phase titanium alloy

Microstructural development in hot working of TA15titanium alloy with primary stripαstructure was investigated withthe aim to globularizeαstrips.Results show that the mechanisms of morphology transformation are the same to the spheroidizationmechanisms of lamellar structure.Boundary splitting and termination migration are more important than coarsening due to the largesize of stripα.Theαstrips are stable in annealing due to the unfavorable geometrical orientation of intra-αboundaries,the largethickness of strip and the geometrical stability ofαparticles.Predeformation and low speed deformation accelerate globularization ofαstrips in the following ways:direct changing of particle shape,promotion of boundary splitting and termination migration byincreasing high angle grain boundaries and interfacial area,promotion of coarsening by forming dislocation structures.Largepredeformation combined with high temperature annealing is a feasible way to globularize stripα.

Application of Cooling Water in Controlled Runout Table Cooling on Hot Strip Mill

The controlled runout table cooling is essential in determining the final mechanical properties and flatness of steel strip.The heat of a hot steel strip is mainly extracted by cooling water during runout.In order to study the heat transfer by water jet impingement boiling during runout,apilot facility was constructed at the University of British Columbia.On this pilot facility,the water jet impingement tests were carried out under various cooling conditions to investigate the effect of processing parameters,such as cooling water temperature,water jet impingement velocity,initial strip temperature,water flow rate,water nozzle diameter and array of water nozzles,on the heat transfer of heated strip.The results obtained contribute to the optimization of cooling water during runout.

Remaining Useful Life Prediction for a Roller in a Hot Strip Mill Based on Deep Recurrent Neural Networks

Accurate estimation of the remaining useful life(RUL)and health state for rollers is of great significance to hot rolling production.It can provide decision support for roller management so as to improve the productivity of the hot rolling process.In addition,the RUL prediction for rollers is helpful in transitioning from the current regular maintenance strategy to conditional-based maintenance.Therefore,a new method that can extract coarse-grained and fine-grained features from batch data to predict the RUL of the rollers is proposed in this paper.Firstly,a new deep learning network architecture based on recurrent neural networks that can make full use of the extracted coarsegrained fine-grained features to estimate the heath indicator(HI)is developed,where the HI is able to indicate the health state of the roller.Following that,a state-space model is constructed to describe the HI,and the probabilistic distribution of RUL can be estimated by extrapolating the HI degradation model to a predefined failure threshold.Finally,application to a hot strip mill is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods using data collected from an industrial site,and the relatively low RMSE and MAE values demonstrate its advantages compared with some other popular deep learning methods.

Control and application of cooling path after rolling for hot strip based on ultra fast cooling

Hot rolled strip requires diverse and flexible control of cooling path in order to take full advantages of strengthening mechanisms such as fine grain strengthening, precipitation strengthening, and transformation strengthening, adapting to the development of advanced steel materials and the requirement of reduction-manufacturing. Ultra fast cooling can achieve a great range of cooling rate, which provides the means that the hardened austenite obtained in high temperature region can keep at different dynamic transformation temperatures. Meanwhile, through the rational allocation of the UFC （ultra fast cooling） and LFC （laminar flow cooling）, more flexible cooling path control and cooling strategy of hot rolled strip are obtained. Temperature distribution and control strategies under different cooling paths based on UFC are investigated. The process control temperature can be limited within 18 ℃, and the mechanical properties of the steels get a great leap forward due to the cooling paths and strategies, which can decrease costs and create great economic benefits for the iron and steel enterprises.

Off-line Simulation of PFC for Hot Rolling Strip

In order to improve the quality of the strip for the hot continuous rolling, the high accuracy set-up control must be applied to production. In the paper, we analyze the RFC (profile and flatness control) system and simulate the set-up process. Calculation results are in agreement to the actual measurements. It is the basis on the developing model.