2.2finishing mill 105-177.doc

2 LTC Tension-Control Finishing Mill 2.1 General The purpose of the inter stand looper control is to provide correction to the appropriate mill stand speed regulators regarding the actual relative speed matching between the exit of the upstream stand and the entry of the downstream stand. Additionally the strip tension between the stands is controlled to a preset set-point value. Thus, strip width fluctuations caused by tension are minimized. Further more the looper serve as a strip buffer between the mill stands. That is necessary because of irregularities of mass flow. 2.1.1 Presetting The tension stresses and the looper heights are given by the Process Computer and transferred to the looper control system prior threading. The operator has the possibility to modify parameter, for instance looper-height and relative tension. 2.1.2 Function The main functions of the Looper-Control are: Tension control: Between two stands a strip loop is formed. The strip tension control ensures the strip tension requested between the stands by pre-setting an adequate torque setpoint to the looper-arm drives. The force transferred by the looper-arm onto the strip effects the build-up of a strip tension between the stands. The function of the strip tension control is to determine the torque value in accordance with the requested tension as a function of the actual condition (strip geometry, looper geometry, looper movements) and to preset the torque limit value to the controller of the looper drive. The looper is torque-controlled with superimposed speed and position control. Position Control: This control loop compares the nominal angle of the position control with the actual angle and calculates the torque setpoint for the looper torque control circuit depending on the angle deviation. To make sure that the subordinated controller of the looper drive reaches the limit and therefore applies a defined torque during normal rolling procedure, an additional angle offset is added