Rolling Mill - Soft Sensors
Summary
For further background on the physical apparatus, we refer the reader to Virtual Laboratory 6 (Rolling Mill (A)). We repeat some of the key points here for completeness.
The main aim of rolling is to reduce the thickness and change the metallurgical properties of metal strip as it is passed through a pair of driven parallel cylindrical rolls. The high external roll forces cause a permanent plastic deformation of the strip, decreasing it’s thickness and producing a corresponding increase in length. The strip may be either hot or cold rolled.
Rolled sheet metal is an important material in modern manufacturing, rolled products are found everywhere in our daily lives. In the year 2000 alone, 3.44 million tonnes of aluminium rolled products were consumed in western Europe.
Of particular relevance to this virtual laboratory is the problem of soft sensor design in rolling mills; a problem that has been the subject of much investigation over the last five decades.
Figure 7.1: Screenshot of Program
Prerequisites
This virtual laboratory examines soft sensing. It would thus probably be more suitable for either a first or second course in control system design. It may also be helpful, although not strictly necessary, to have first done Laboratory 5 (at least in rough form).
Learning Objectives
The objectives of this laboratory are:
- To investigate the use of soft sensors to estimate variables that are difficult (or impossible) to measure directly
