Gauging system gets the measure of steel plate
A
Converteam product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Mar 20, 2007
A custom-made gauge measures steel plate in the range 6 to 150mm with an accuracy of less than +/-160um.
A cost effective measuring gauge for steel plate production has been developed in the UK by Converteam (formerly Alstom) and successfully installed at Spartan UK's Gateshead mill.
Spartan UK produces carbon steel plates rolled to specific customer requirements within very short lead times.
Converteam's service division has been working on the project with Spartan UK over a 12-month period.
The aim was to produce a gauging system that could meet the needs of the mill in terms of its ability to measure accurately to the required tolerances for the plate production process, but which would also be designed for economic application.
Sophisticated and expensive gauges are readily available, but they can be over-specified for many industrial tasks.
Spartan UK's application called for a system that could measure to their specific steel plate tolerances but avoid the need to acquire expensive equipment that would technically provide excessively more than necessary.
Converteam's solution was a gauge that measures steel plate in the range 6 to 150mm with an accuracy of less than +/-160um, which is within the tolerance range required by the mill.
A motorised stainless steel C frame with two Moduloc built-in triangulation lasers forms the core of the design.
One laser is located in the bottom angled upwards and the second is located in the top angled downwards.
The C frame is cooled internally with clean air and externally via airways with dirty air.
The gauge is designed to move in across the roller tables at the end of each last pass.
When the material is stationary a measurement takes place.
Before each measurement the gauge goes through a calibration procedure to compensate errors introduced into the system due to changes in the operating environment, such as temperature.
The measurements from the lasers are first processed by the system's computer, which then produces an actual thickness calculation.
These signals are further processed within Converteam's Advanced Micro Controller where the thickness is adjusted to allow for variances in temperature.
According to Spartan the gauge has been a successful acquisition, with a designed-for-purpose solution that has also delivered a significant saving.
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