The shape system has many excellent features to achieve the desired shape performance. Automatic profile control (AFC) is a system based on mathematical operations to reduce conflicts between what is needed and what is possible, as well as on actual operating parameters derived from the mill itself.
Measuring the difference between strip profile and target curve is called “profile deviation”. The shape deviation can be minimized by adjusting a series of control functions in the roll gap of the mill.
High precision rolling mill models for different types of rolling mills
The mill model is obtained by evaluating how the mill responds to control instructions. The actual response of each actuator can be derived online or created from a theoretical model, then determined by actual operations and expressed as a mathematical function. The combined reaction of all actuators in a mill creates an equation in the operating software that determines how to control the mill to achieve the desired profile performance.
Automatic adjustment for ideal plate shape
Multiple actuators with similar functions may interfere with each other. Limiting this interference means applying a certain type of priority to these functionally similar actuators. For profile deviation, the effective control response combination to reduce profile deviation is the least square fit of the response curve, which is also applicable to the priority of the actuator, so that the deviation between the actual profile and the target profile can be resolved.
Profile control with extended singular value decomposition
A problem in many Cluster mills is that the combination of several different actuators will result in the same profile change under any conditions. Until now, it has not been possible to find the ideal actuator combination. However, ABB’s unique approach is to find the combination of these actuators, taking into account all the constraints at the same time. For example, the speed and available range of the actuator achieve very little wear to the actuator and bearing through the ideal working mode of the actuator. Traditional control systems are very sensitive to model and profile deviations, although these deviations are very small. Even for a mill with a large number of actuators, the ESVD method ensures a robust and fully automatic control.