Method for determining slab length and slab charging position within walking-beam heating furnace

Abstract

A method of determining the slab length and charging position of the slab in a walking-beam heating furnace determines the length of the slab and the charging position of the slab in each heating furnace to minimize a first evaluation function under first constraint conditions, determines the charging position of the slab in each heating furnace to minimize a second evaluation function under a second constraint condition, and uses, as an overhang amount, a lead end overhang amount defined as the distance between a lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second skid coordinate counted from a lead end in a tail end direction, and a tail end overhang amount defined as the distance between a tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second skid coordinate counted from a tail end in a lead end direction.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a plurality of walking-beam heating furnaces installed in a hot rolling mill or thick plate mill for producing steel plates, and relates to a method of determining the length of a slab to be charged into such a heating furnace and the charging position of the slab.BACKGROUND

[0002] In a hot rolling mill, slabs received from continuous casting and the like are heated in a walking-beam heating furnace to a predetermined extraction temperature (approximately 1050 °C to 1200 °C), and then undergo rough rolling, finishing rolling, run-out table cooling, and coiling to produce hot-rolled coils.

[0003] In a walking-beam heating furnace, the slab is lifted by a moving skid while having been heated to a high temperature.

[0004] During such lifting, the slab may droop due to creep deformation from the support point to the leading / tail ends, and when this part comes into contact with the fixed skid part on the outside when the slab is lowered from the moving skid, scab defects can occur.

[0005] Alternatively, if the moving skid is on the outermost side, when the slab is lowered and the moving skid is retracting, a sagging portion may be generated as a cantilever due to the fixed skid, and this sagging portion may come into contact with the moving skid that has returned to its fixed position, resulting in scab defects.

[0006] Such creep deformation that occurs at high temperatures tends to be less likely to occur in general steel that is in the austenite phase at high temperatures, and is more likely to occur in grain-oriented electrical steel sheets that are in the ferrite phase at high temperatures. Moreover, the amount of deformation due to this creep deformation increases under conditions such as a long distance (overhang amount) from the support point to the slab end, or a slab that is thin or at a high temperature, which makes scab defects more likely to occur, as described in Patent Literature (PTL) 1.

[0007] Generally, the thickness and width of the slab and the heating conditions in the heating furnace are designed according to standards and have little room for change, but the slab length can sometimes be adjusted to a certain extent. Therefore, it is conceivable to utilize the slab length as a means of adjusting the overhang amount.

[0008] Also, typically, the plurality of heating furnaces in a hot rolling mill do not all necessarily have the same skid arrangement. As a result, even with the same slab length, the overhang amount often varies depending on the heating furnace. Furthermore, if there is a skid shift structure, the overhang amount can change even within the same heating furnace.

[0009] Thus, a slab length with a small overhang amount in one heating furnace may have a longer overhang amount in another heating furnace, complicating the design of the slab length.

[0010] In response to this, PTL 1 discloses a method of avoiding contact defects that occur due to creep deformation when a discharge fork is inserted at the time of extraction from the heating furnace.CITATION LISTPatent Literature

[0011] PTL 1: JP H06-346132 ASUMMARY(Technical Problem)

[0012] However, PTL 1 does not disclose a method of designing the slab length and charging position to suppress the occurrence of scab defects that occur at the aforementioned skid part.

[0013] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances and aims to provide a method of designing the slab length and charging position of a slab to be charged into a walking-beam heating furnace so as to minimize the probability of occurrence of scab defects at the skid part. In particular, the present disclosure aims to provide a design method that minimizes the probability of occurrence of scab defects in the case of a plurality of walking-beam heating furnaces.(Solution to Problem)

[0014] (1) A method of determining a slab length and a charging position of a slab in a walking-beam heating furnace according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a method of determining a slab length and a charging position of a slab in a walking-beam heating furnace, the method including, in determining a length of a slab to be charged into two or more walking-beam heating furnaces and a charging position of the slab using mixed integer programming, using, as first constraint conditions, a constraint equation defining an overhang amount, a constraint equation defining a scab defect occurrence probability corresponding to the overhang amount from a predetermined model that defines a relationship between the overhang amount and a probability of occurrence of a scab defect occurring at a skid portion, an equality constraint on slab length for each heating furnace, and a constraint equation defining upper and lower limits of the slab length, further using a first evaluation function that uses a constraint equation defining a maximum value of the scab defect occurrence probability, determining the length of the slab and the charging position of the slab in each heating furnace to minimize the first evaluation function under the first constraint conditions, adding the length of the slab obtained by the minimization as a second constraint condition to the constraint equation defining upper and lower limits of the slab length, further using a second evaluation function that uses a constraint equation defining a sum of maximum values of the scab defect occurrence probability, and determining the charging position of the slab in each heating furnace to minimize the second evaluation function under the second constraint condition, wherein as the overhang amount, a lead end overhang amount, defined as a distance between a lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second skid coordinate counted from a lead end in a tail end direction, and a tail end overhang amount, defined as a distance between a tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second skid coordinate counted from a tail end in a lead end direction, are used. (2) As an embodiment of the present disclosure, in (1), in a case in which the walking-beam heating furnace includes a shift function, as the overhang amount, a pre-shift lead end overhang amount, defined as a distance between the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second pre-shift skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction, a pre-shift tail end overhang amount, defined as a distance between the tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second pre-shift skid coordinate counted from the tail end in the lead end direction, a post-shift lead end overhang amount, defined as a distance between the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second post-shift skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction, and a post-shift tail end overhang amount, defined as a distance between the tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second post-shift skid coordinate counted from the tail end in the lead end direction, are used. (3) As an embodiment of the present disclosure, in (1) or (2), the constraint equation defining the scab defect occurrence probability is selected according to a maximum end-point temperature of the slab obtained in advance. (Advantageous Effect)

[0015] According to the present disclosure, in the case of a plurality of walking-beam heating furnaces, the occurrence probability of scab defects at the skid portion is reduced, and the yield rate is improved.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the implementation flow of an embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the lead end coordinate and the overhang amount; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overhang amount-dependent model of scab defect occurrence probability; and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the scab defect occurrence probability model. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Based on the implementation flow illustrated in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present disclosure is explained. Here, the present embodiment is a method used for a walking-beam heating furnace (hereinafter also simply referred to as a "heating furnace") that heats slabs for steel plates received from continuous casting and the like.

[0018] Hereinafter, an explanation is provided for a plurality of heating furnaces installed in the same factory, with the heating furnaces performing one shift during heating. In the case of using a heating furnace without a shift, the explanation regarding the post-shift can be omitted in the following description.

[0019] Also, the method of the present embodiment uses mixed integer programming in determining the length of the slab and the charging position of the slab, and the specific procedure will be explained below.

[0020] First, in a first constraint condition creation unit (101) illustrated in FIG. 1, equality and inequality constraints are created. The equality and inequality constraints define the pre-shift lead end overhang amount, pre-shift tail end overhang amount, post-shift lead end overhang amount, post-shift tail end overhang amount, slab length, and scab defect occurrence probability for each heating furnace.

[0021] As a specific procedure, an inequality constraint defining the pre-shift lead end overhang amount for a certain heating furnace is explained. As preparation, for a case in which the furnace has N skids, constants including the skid coordinates listed in Table 1 below are read.[Table 1]

[0022] Table 1SymbolDescriptionw i (i= 1, ..., N+2)w 1 : stores -M (M is a real value, and is a considerably larger value than w N+1 )w 2 ... w N+1 : stores skid coordinates in ascending orderw N+2 : stores M (M is a real value and is considerably larger than w N+1 )

[0023] Next, the decision variables listed in Table 2 below are prepared.[Table 2]

[0024] Table 2SymbolDescriptionx LE Pre-shift lead end coordinatez i (i = 1, ..., N+1)Binary variable that takes 1 when x LE is between w i and w i+1 , otherwise takes 0t i (i = 1, ..., N+2)Continuous variable used in equality constraint for lead end coordinate x LE , representing weight for w i L i (i = 1, ..., N+1)Distance of x LE from w i L i ' (i = 1, ..., N+1)Variable taking larger of L i and 0δ i (i = 1, ..., N+1)Binary variable taking 1 if L i is greater than 0 and taking 0 if L i is less than 0D i (i = 1, ..., N+1)Variable D i taking L' i-1 if a is 1 and taking 0 if z i is 0O LE1 Pre-shift lead end overhang amount

[0025] Let x LE listed in Table 2 be represented by the equality constraint (1a) below, using the skid coordinate w i and the continuous variable t i of the index. x LE = ∑ i = 1 N + 2 w i t i

[0026] Here, (1a) means that the continuous variables t i of at most adjacent indices are positive, and their sum is 1, thus determining the coordinates as the internal division point of the skid coordinates. Therefore, at this time, the inequalities that the binary variable z i (i = 1, 2, ..., N+1) and the continuous variable t i (i = 1, ..., N+2) must satisfy become Expressions (1b) to (le) below. t 1 ≤ z 1 t 2 ≤ z 1 + z 2 t 3 ≤ z 2 + z 3 ⋮ t N + 1 ≤ z N + z N + 1 t N + 2 ≤ z N + 1 1 b t 1 ≥ 0 t 2 ≥ 0 ⋮ t N + 2 ≥ 0 1 c ∑ i = 1 N + 2 t i = 1 1 d ∑ i = 1 N + 1 z i = 1 1 e

[0027] Next, the distance L i from the skid coordinate wi to the lead end coordinate x LE is expressed by the following equality constraint (1f). [Math. 3] L i = x LE − w i , i = 1 , 2 , , … , N + 1

[0028] Here, an inequality is constructed so that the decision variable L i ' takes L i if L i is greater than 0, and takes 0 if L i is 0 or less. Through the binary variable δ i , which takes values according to the sign of L i , an inequality is created to select either L i or 0.

[0029] That is, the inequality that the binary variable δ i must satisfy, which takes 1 if L i is greater than 0 and 0 if L i is 0 or less, is given by the following Expression (1g). [Math. 4] − M 1 − δ i + ε ≤ L i L i ≤ Mδ i i = 1 , 2 , , ⋯ , N + 1

[0030] Therefore, the decision variable L i ' that takes the larger value of L i and 0 is expressed by the following Expression (1h) using L i and δ i . [Math. 5] L i − 1 − δ M ≤ L ′ i ≤ L i + 1 − δ M − δM ≤ L ′ i ≤ δM i = 1 , 2 , , ⋯ , N + 1

[0031] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 2, when the lead end coordinate x LE is between w i and w i+1 , the overhang amount becomes L i-1 '. L i-1' is the lead end overhang amount, which is the distance between the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and the second skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction. To express this, the variable D i , which takes L i-1 ' if z i is 1 and 0 if z i is 0, must satisfy the following Inequality (li). The overhang amount O LE1 can be expressed by the equality constraint of Expression (1j).

[0032] The above are the equalities and inequalities for the pre-shift lead end overhang amount.

[0033] Here, if the lead end overhang amount is defined as the distance from the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace to the first skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction, then no effect is obtained, as illustrated in the EXAMPLES section described later. On the other hand, there is no need to consider defining the lead end overhang amount as the distance from the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace to the third (or subsequent) skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction. The reason is that as a physical phenomenon, creep deformation progresses in a cantilever state due to the second skid. 0 ≤ D i ≤ Mz i L ′ i − 1 − 1 − z i M ≤ D i ≤ L ′ i − 1 i = 2 , ⋯ , N + 1 1 J O LE 1 = ∑ i = 2 N + 1 D i 1 J

[0034] Next, in a similar manner, equalities and inequalities that the pre-shift tail end overhang amount should satisfy are constructed. Letting the tail end coordinate at this time be x TE , the slab length L slab is expressed by Equality (2) below along with the lead end coordinate x LE . [Math. 7] L slab = x LE − x TE

[0035] Regarding the slab length L slab , upper and lower limit constraints are defined. When the upper limit is L U< slab and the lower limit is L L< slab , the slab length L slab is given by Inequality (3) below. [Math. 8] L slab L ≤ L slab ≤ L slab U

[0036] Next, equalities and inequalities that the post-shift lead and tail end overhang amounts should satisfy are constructed in the same manner as above. Here, since the lead end coordinate x LE and the tail end coordinate x TE already defined by the post-shift lead and tail end overhang amounts do not change after the shift, the lead end coordinate x LE and the tail end coordinate x TE can be used as they are.

[0037] Next, the inequality constraint that defines the scab defect occurrence probability is explained.

[0038] The relationship between the overhang amount and the scab defect occurrence probability is modeled in advance, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Such a model is, for example, constructed as a piecewise linear model pairing the overhang amount with the corresponding scab defect occurrence probability, as illustrated in Table 3.[Table 3]

[0039] Table 3SymbolDescriptionx i (i = 1, ..., n)Overhang amounty i (i= 1, ..., n)Scab defect occurrence probability corresponding to x i

[0040] Next, when the pre- and post-shift leading and tail end overhang amounts of each heating furnace (heating furnace number j) are given as illustrated in Table 4 below, an inequality that defines the corresponding scab defect occurrence probability is constructed. As an example, a method of calculating the scab defect occurrence probability corresponding to the pre-shift lead end overhang amount O LE1,j is explained. [Math. 9] O LE 1 , j = ∑ i = 1 n x i s i , j [Table 4]

[0041] Table 4SymbolMeaningO LE1,j Pre-shift lead end overhang amountO TE1,j Pre-shift tail end overhang amountO LE2,j Post-shift lead end overhang amountO TE2,j Post-shift tail end overhang amount [Table 5]

[0042] Table 5SymbolDescriptiond i,j (i = 1, ..., n-1)Binary variable taking 1 when O LE1,j is between x i and x i+1 , otherwise taking 0s i,j (i = 1, ..., n)Used for the equality constraint O LE1,j . Continuous variable representing weight for x i ,y i P LE1,j Scab defect occurrence probability at pre-shift lead endP TE1,j Scab defect occurrence probability at pre-shift tail endP LE2,j Scab defect occurrence probability at post-shift lead endP TE2,j Scab defect occurrence probability at post-shift tail end

[0043] If O LE1,j is represented by the equality constraint (4a), this means that the continuous variables s i,j of at most adjacent indices are positive, and their sum is 1, thus determining the coordinates as the internal division point of the skid coordinates. At this time, the inequalities that the binary variable d i,j (i = 1, 2, ..., n-1) and the continuous variable s i,j (i = 1, ..., n) must satisfy are given by the Expressions (4b) to (4e) below, and the scab defect occurrence probability is given by (4f) below. s 1 , j ≤ d 1 , j s 2 , j ≤ d 1 , j + d 2 , j s 3 , j ≤ d 2 , j + d 3 , j ⋮ s n − 1 , j ≤ d n − 2 , j + d n − 1 , j s n , j ≤ d n − 1 , j 4 b s 1 , j ≥ 0 s 2 , j ≥ 0 ⋮ s n , j ≥ 0 4 c ∑ i = 1 n s i , j = 1 4 d ∑ i = 1 n − 1 d i , j = 1 4 c P LE 1 , j = ∑ i = 1 n y i s i , j 4 f

[0044] Next, in the first evaluation function creation unit (102) illustrated in FIG. 1, an evaluation function formed by the maximum value of the scab defect occurrence probabilities at the pre-shift lead end and tail end and the post-shift lead end and tail end for all heating furnaces is constructed. This represents the maximum value among all heating furnaces (subscript j) for the scab defect occurrence probabilities P LE1,j , P TE1,j , P LE2,j , P TE2,j listed in Table 5 in correspondence with the overhang amounts in Table 4.

[0045] In the first optimal condition search unit (103) illustrated in FIG. 1, under the constraint conditions created in the first constraint condition creation unit (101), the slab length (L* slab ) and the slab charging position for each heating furnace are determined so that the evaluation function created in the first evaluation function creation unit (102) is minimized.

[0046] In the second constraint condition creation unit (104) illustrated in FIG. 1, in addition to the constraint conditions from the first constraint condition creation unit (101), the slab length (L* slab ) determined in the first optimal condition search unit (103) is added as a constraint. [Math. 11] L slab * = x LE − x TE

[0047] In the second evaluation function creation unit (105) illustrated in FIG. 1, a constraint equation defining the sum of the maximum values of the scab defect occurrence probability at the pre-shift lead end and tail end and the post-shift lead end and tail end for each heating furnace is set as the evaluation function.

[0048] In the second optimal condition search unit (106) illustrated in FIG. 1, under the constraint conditions created in the second constraint condition creation unit (104), the slab charging position for each heating furnace is determined so that the evaluation function created in the second evaluation function creation unit (105) is minimized.

[0049] By performing the above procedures, the slab length and charging position for each heating furnace that minimize the scab defect occurrence probability can be determined.EXAMPLES

[0050] The content of the present disclosure was applied to a hot rolling mill with three heating furnaces, i.e., a first heating furnace to a third heating furnace, each equipped with a function to shift once.

[0051] The skid arrangements of each heating furnace in the present embodiment were as illustrated in Table 6 (pre-shift) and Table 7 (post-shift). Also, since the slab reaches a high temperature after the shift, the scab defect occurrence probability is higher for the same pre-shift and post-shift overhang amount. Based on this fact, different models for scab defect occurrence probability are applied before and after the shift, as described for the above piecewise linear model in FIG. 4. Furthermore, the constraints for the slab length to be explored were set in the range of 10000 mm to 12000 mm, considering actual operations.[Table 6]

[0052] Table 6First heating furnaceSecond heating furnaceThird heating furnace-4700-4700-4800-3500-3600-3600-2100-3200-2300-800-900-1100100013001100250023002300380036003600500050005000 (Note: units [mm])[Table 7]

[0053] Table 7First heating furnaceSecond heating furnaceThird heating furnace-5100-5400-5600-3800-4800-5000-2500-3400-3800-1100-2100-2500-200-700-90080050030022001100900340025002100480038003400560052005000 (Note: unit [mm])

[0054] The lead end overhang amount was defined as the distance between the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and the second skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction. The tail end overhang amount was defined as the distance between the tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and the second skid coordinate counted from the tail end in the lead end direction, and the first optimal condition search unit was executed. As illustrated in Table 8, the slab length was then determined to be 11020 mm, and the maximum scab defect occurrence probability (the maximum value of the scab defect occurrence probability at the lead and tail end before and after the shift) among heating furnaces was found to be 58.2 % in the third heating furnace.

[0055] Next, when executing the second optimal condition search unit with the addition of the constraint of the aforementioned determined slab length (11020 mm), the maximum scab defect occurrence probability (the maximum value of the scab defect occurrence probability at the lead and tail end before and after the shift) illustrated in Table 9 was obtained. For the first and third heating furnaces, the lead and tail end coordinates representing the charging position of the slab remain unchanged, but for the second heating furnace, the maximum scab defect occurrence probability decreased from 57.0 % to 46.2 %, indicating that the charging position of the slab has been optimized.

[0056] Here, the charging position of the slab (lead end coordinate) was 5800 mm for the first heating furnace, 5320 mm for the second heating furnace, and 5120 mm for the third heating furnace.[Table 8]

[0057] Table 8First heating furnaceSecond heating furnaceThird heating furnaceLead end coordinate [mm]580055005120Tail end coordinate [mm]-5220-5520-5900Slab length (lead end coordinate - tail end coordinate) [mm]110201102011020Scab defect occurrence probability at lead end (pre-shift) [%]30.028.020.4Scab defect occurrence probability at tail end (pre-shift) [%]24.428.457.0Scab defect occurrence probability at lead end (post-shift) [%]25.057.058.2Scab defect occurrence probability at tail end (post-shift) [%]41.818.022.5Maximum scab defect occurrence probability41.857.058.2 [Table 9]

[0058] Table 9First heating furnaceSecond heating furnaceThird heating furnaceLead end coordinate [mm]580053205120Tail end coordinate [mm]-5220-5700-5900Slab length (lead end coordinate - tail end coordinate) [mm]110201102011020Scab defect occurrence probability at lead end (pre-shift) [%]30.024.420.4Scab defect occurrence probability at tail end (pre-shift) [%]24.439.057.0Scab defect occurrence probability at lead end (post-shift) [%]25.046.258.2Scab defect occurrence probability at tail end (post-shift) [%]41.822.522.5Maximum scab defect occurrence probability41.846.258.2

[0059] For comparison, Table 10 illustrates the calculation results for the conventional condition where the slab length is 10000 mm, and the charging positions (lead end coordinates) are 5980 mm for the first heating furnace, 4140 mm for the second heating furnace, and 3980 mm for the third heating furnace. The lead end overhang amount was defined as the distance between the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and the second skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction. Furthermore, the tail end overhang amount was defined as the distance between the tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and the second skid coordinate counted from the tail end in the lead end direction. The maximum scab defect occurrence probability in the table was 67.8 % for the third heating furnace. Since this example is higher compared to the example according to the present embodiment, it can be seen that a reduction in the occurrence of scab defects can be expected by following the present embodiment.[Table 10]

[0060] Table 10First heating furnaceSecond heating furnaceThird heating furnaceLead end coordinate [mm]598041403980Tail end coordinate [mm]-4020-5860-6020Slab length (lead end coordinate - tail end coordinate) [mm]100001000010000Scab defect occurrence probability at lead end (pre-shift) [%]46.226.823.6Scab defect occurrence probability at tail end (pre-shift) [%]28.453.467.8Scab defect occurrence probability at lead end (post-shift) [%]32.253.467.8Scab defect occurrence probability at tail end (post-shift) [%]46.227.425.8Maximum scab defect occurrence probability46.253.467.8

[0061] The lead end overhang amount was also defined as the distance between the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and the first skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction. Furthermore, the tail end overhang amount was defined as the distance between the tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and the first skid coordinate counted from the tail end in the lead end direction. At this time, Table 11 illustrates the result of determining the scab occurrence probability due to the second skid contact at the lead end when calculating the slab length and charging position that minimize the total lead end overhang amount.

[0062] In this case, the slab length was 10940 mm, and the maximum scab defect occurrence probability in the table was 64.2 % for the third heating furnace. Since this example is also higher compared to the example according to the present embodiment, it can be seen that a reduction in the occurrence of scab defects can be expected by following the present embodiment.[Table 11]

[0063] Table 11First heating furnaceSecond heating furnaceThird heating furnaceLead end coordinate [mm]572053405220Tail end coordinate [mm]-5220-5600-5720Slab length (lead end coordinate - tail end coordinate) [mm]109401094010940Scab defect occurrence probability at lead end (pre-shift) [%]28.424.822.4Scab defect occurrence probability at tail end (pre-shift) [%]24.430.040.8Scab defect occurrence probability at lead end (post-shift) [%]23.047.464.2Scab defect occurrence probability at tail end (post-shift) [%]41.820.018.0Maximum scab defect occurrence probability41.847.464.2

Claims

1. A method of determining a slab length and a charging position of a slab in a walking-beam heating furnace, the method comprising: in determining a length of a slab to be charged into two or more walking-beam heating furnaces and a charging position of the slab using mixed integer programming, using, as first constraint conditions, a constraint equation defining an overhang amount, a constraint equation defining a scab defect occurrence probability corresponding to the overhang amount from a predetermined model that defines a relationship between the overhang amount and a probability of occurrence of a scab defect occurring at a skid portion, an equality constraint on slab length for each heating furnace, and a constraint equation defining upper and lower limits of the slab length, further using a first evaluation function that uses a constraint equation defining a maximum value of the scab defect occurrence probability, determining the length of the slab and the charging position of the slab in each heating furnace to minimize the first evaluation function under the first constraint conditions, adding the length of the slab obtained by the minimization as a second constraint condition to the constraint equation defining upper and lower limits of the slab length, further using a second evaluation function that uses a constraint equation defining a sum of maximum values of the scab defect occurrence probability, and determining the charging position of the slab in each heating furnace to minimize the second evaluation function under the second constraint condition, wherein as the overhang amount, a lead end overhang amount, defined as a distance between a lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second skid coordinate counted from a lead end in a tail end direction, and a tail end overhang amount, defined as a distance between a tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second skid coordinate counted from a tail end in a lead end direction, are used.

2. The method of determining a slab length and a charging position of a slab in a walking-beam heating furnace according to claim 1, wherein in a case in which the walking-beam heating furnace includes a shift function, as the overhang amount, a pre-shift lead end overhang amount, defined as a distance between the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second pre-shift skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction, a pre-shift tail end overhang amount, defined as a distance between the tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second pre-shift skid coordinate counted from the tail end in the lead end direction, a post-shift lead end overhang amount, defined as a distance between the lead end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second post-shift skid coordinate counted from the lead end in the tail end direction, and a post-shift tail end overhang amount, defined as a distance between the tail end coordinate of the slab in the heating furnace and a second post-shift skid coordinate counted from the tail end in the lead end direction, are used.

3. The method of determining a slab length and a charging position of a slab in a walking-beam heating furnace according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the constraint equation defining the scab defect occurrence probability is selected according to a maximum end-point temperature of the slab obtained in advance.

Images