Throughput Optimisation for Real-time Setup of Cold Mills

Cold rolling mills are highly automated in today's manufacturing sector. Prior to the strip being rolled in the mill, the rolling stand actuators have to be 'set up' to their correct values. In particular, the gap between the work rolls and the roll speeds have to be precisely determined and set. These settings rely upon models which are complicated in nature and demand considerations of numerous practical constraints. This paper describes recent developments and improvements made to those models to optimise the throughput of the mill during the setup procedure. This includes a model to monitor the thermal condition of the mill motors in order to optimise the motor power utilisation, and a dynamic load redistribution algorithm to maximise throughput.