IMS Measuring Systems in Cold Rolling Mills / Processing Lines

Aerospace technology, automotive and shipbuilding, architecture, medical technology, and household appliances - the areas of application for high-quality strip steels seem almost unlimited. The steel industry is developing rapidly and the demands for new, adapted products are also occurring at ever shorter intervals. The economy demands new processes and materials in the steel industry and the demand for the quality of the end product is also subject to a continuous increase. Cold-rolled strip is becoming increasingly important in this context. In order to provide the processing industry with optimum base materials, the rolling processes are complex. Throughout the entire process and its fully automated control for end products of the highest quality, measuring systems from IMS guarantee compliance with minimum tolerances. - Conventional cold rolling mills - Coupled pickling / tandem mills (PLTCM) - Finishing lines - Process lines - Shear lines benefit from our perfectly coordinated highly precise and fully automated measuring technology for the exact determination of: - Thickness - Thickness profile - Thickness edge profile - width - holes - Fine holes - Edge cracks - phase content - internal inclusions / shell defects - coating overlays - flatness - flatness - 2D surface inspection - strip tension / web tension - Speed of web - Length Precisely reproducible measurements as well as real-time evaluations optimize your production facilities and increase product quality while reducing production costs and reject rates. In addition to their longevity and impressive performance, our measuring systems also impress with the extremely convenient user-friendliness of their control and regulation software. The MEVIweb user software developed in-house by IMS convinced the juries of two renowned awards and was honored with the iF Design Award and the Red Dot Design Award.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION FOR

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION FOR COLD ROLLING MILLS / PROCESSING LINES Two Head Thickness Profile Measuring System SYSTEM DESCRIPTION FOR COLD ROLLING MILLS / PROCESSING LINES Twin-Set Thickness and Profile Measuring System A two-head thickness cross profile measuring frame consists of a C-frame with either two mobile measuring heads that can be moved separately of each other or a fixed centreline measuring head and a mobile measuring head. The mobile measuring heads can record the complete thickness cross profile over the strip width. In normal mill operations one measuring head stays in the centre of the strip, while the other traverses across the complete strip width. The difference between the centre signal and the signal of the traversing measuring head is formed continuously during the profile traverse. Using this information, the length profile influence is corrected automatically during the rolling process. When the strip is stationary, both measuring heads can be moved from the strip centre to the strip edges, one to the operator side and the other to the drive side to reduce the scanning time. The width and strip position are determined from the data acquired by the scanning measuring head. The C-frame is locked in measuring position (mill stand centre) so that a repeatable position is ensured at all times The two-head measuring system measures the following parameters: • strip thickness in the centre of the strip • edge thickness • edge drop • wedge, crown • thickness profile • strip width • positions of the strip edges In emergency operation, i.e. when the centreline gauge fails, the mobile measuring head is driven to strip centreline position and takes over all functions of the strip centreline gauge. Various cross profile and movement programs can be selected with the process monitor screens. Any measuring frame position wanted can be parameterised. If wanted by the customer, further movement programs can be implemented. Twinset thickness and profile measuring frame Two-head thickness profile measuring frame The Twinset profile measurement consists of two separate C-frames. At the entry side of the Mill, one C-frame measures the centre line thickness of the strip. A second, scanning C-frame located at the exit side of the Mill provides cross strip profile data as it scans backwards and forwards across the strip. During measurement this C-frame moves continuously from one edge of the material to the other. As a result the profile of the material is measured across the width of the material. The traversing thickness gauge can also be used in stationary mode to measure the thickness on the centreline. The measuring system measures the following parameters: • centre thickness • thickness profile, wedge and crown The profile is calculated from the difference between the strip centre line thickness at the mill entry and the strip profile at the mill exit. At the same time the distance between the two spatially separate measuring points is corrected. The twinset system is a simple method of measurement with which correct thickness profile measurement is possible under the following conditions: • The twinset profile measurement provides an inexpensive method of measuring correct strip profile provided that the strip remains flat on the roll table (i.e. at the correct passline). Any degree of non-flatness in the strip during scanning will lead to incorrect profile meas urement. • The number of measured thickness cross profiles must be limited to a few measurements per coil dependent on the length and width of the material and on the strip speed. Due to the relatively long control loop response time, online profile control is not feasible. And, under certain circumstances, it is possible that changes in the profile – and therefore changes in the wedge and crown over the coil length – will not be measured accurately. Depending on the radiation beam geometry, one or two detectors are arranged in the strip length direction in order to achieve the required measuring resolution, i.e. the smallest measured width in the cross strip direction. 14 15