Casting-Rolling Strip Plant for Ultra-Thin Flatness Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing casting-rolling integrated plants struggle to produce thin steel strips with a thickness of ≤0.6 mm with excellent flatness and profile without requiring subsequent cold rolling, leading to high CO2 emissions.
Innovation Solution
A casting-rolling integrated plant with a continuous casting plant, roughing, intermediate, and finishing trains, equipped with actuators and induction furnaces, and multiple measuring devices to control strip profile and flatness, allowing for precise temperature and thickness adjustments during hot rolling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If thin steel strips with thickness ≤0.6 mm are produced on existing casting-rolling integrated plants, then productivity and cost efficiency are improved, but the flatness and profile quality deteriorate requiring subsequent cold rolling
Solution Approach 1:
The rolling process is divided into three separate rolling stands (roughing stand, intermediate stand, finishing stand) that operate in sequence. Each stand is equipped with independent actuators for profile and flatness control, allowing staged thickness reduction and progressive quality improvement without requiring cold rolling
Solution Approach 2:
Each rolling stand is equipped with dedicated actuators (such as crown control devices) that can independently adjust the roll profile and flatness at specific locations along the strip. This localized control enables precise correction of thickness variations and profile deviations at each stage of the rolling process
Solution Approach 3:
Measurement devices are installed after each rolling stand to continuously monitor the actual profile and flatness of the strip. This measurement data is fed back to the control system, which automatically adjusts the actuators in subsequent stands to compensate for deviations and maintain quality specifications
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple measuring devices and actuators are added to control profile and flatness, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The actuators installed at each rolling stand serve multiple functions: they control both the profile (thickness distribution across the width) and the flatness (overall thickness uniformity) of the strip. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated devices for each control parameter
Solution Approach 2:
The measurement and control functions are integrated into a unified automated system. Measurement devices detect profile and flatness deviations, and the control system coordinates actuator adjustments across all three rolling stands to correct these deviations, merging multiple control actions into a coordinated process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the production of ultra-thin steel strips with excellent flatness and profile at low cost and high productivity without cold rolling, reducing CO2 emissions.
Implementation Method 1
a first induction furnace for heating the roughed strip to a first rolling temperature
Implementation Method 2
continuous casting of a steel melt to form a continuous strand having a slab or thin slab cross section
Data Source
AI summary
A casting-rolling integrated plant that is capable of producing, from a steel melt, in a cost-effective manner and with high productivity, a hot-rolled finished strip having a thickness of ≤0.6 mm, an excellent flatness, and an excellent profile by dividing the thickness reduction into at least three stages (roughing, intermediate and finishing train), measuring the actual profile after the roughing, intermediate and finishing train, and equipping the stands in the roughing, intermediate and finishing train with actuators for influencing the strip profile and/or the strip flatness.