AISTech 2019 — Proceedings of the Iron & Steel Technology Conference

6–9 May 2019, Pittsburgh, Pa., USA

DOI 10.1000.377.159

New Control Concept for ESP Thin-Gauge Rolling Improves Thickness Quality

D. Kotzian1, A. Gruess2, A. Maierhofer 3

1
Primetals Technologies Germany GmbH
Bunsenstrasse 43, Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany, 91058
Phone: +49 9131 9886-127
Email: daniel.kotzian@primetals.com
2
Primetals Technologies Germany GmbH
Bunsenstrasse 43, Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany, 91058
Phone: +49 9131 9886-141
Email: ansgar.gruess@primetals.com
3
Primetals Technologies Germany GmbH
Bunsenstrasse 43, Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany, 91058
Phone: +49 9131 9886-189
Email: andreas.maierhofer@primetals.com

Keywords: Ultra-thin hot rolling, tension control, thickness control, endless strip production, finishing mill, hot strip mill, roll
eccentricity compensation

INTRODUCTION
The Chinese steel producer Rizhao Steel Group Co., Ltd (Rizhao) pushes the production of ultra-thin hot rolled strip. In 2013
and 2014, Rizhao ordered five new Arvedi Endless Strip Production (ESP) lines with a total annual production capacity of
more than 11 million tons. The No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 lines are already in full production. The first three lines produce
strips to a minimum thickness of 0.8 mm. Line No. 4 started rolling in April 2018. Only six months later, ultra-thin hot strip
with a thickness of 0.6 millimeters was produced for the very first time. Hot strip this thin has never been rolled before.

Figure 1: Arvedi ESP layout, main equipment and dimensions of the Cremona master plant. The distance from ladle turret to
down coiler no. 2 is 180m.
The ESP lines are controlled by completely integrated basic-automation (Level 1) and process-optimization systems (Level
2) for all casting and rolling operations. The entire process, including all plant technology and automation systems, is
protected by Arvedi and Primetals Technologies patents. [1]

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1553

 NEW CONTROL CONCEPT FOR THE ESP FINISHING MILL
Demand for rolling thin gauges directly in the hot rolling process without having an additional pass at a cold rolling mill is
increasing because it reduces production costs tremendously. The requirements for strip thickness and tension performance,
e.g. with reductions down to 0.6mm at ESP lines comes close to cold rolling. Therefore the quality demands for the tension
and thickness control of finishing mills have increased.

Overview of Ultra-Thin Rolling Control

A new control concept for the ESP finishing mill allows the rolling of thin strips with the existing installed instrumentation
and with excellent thickness performance. The first application of Ultra-Thin Rolling Control (UTR) was at Rizhao ESP line
No. 4. Before that, first tests were carried out at Rizhao ESP line No. 3 [2]. The control is based on the cold rolling control
concept used many times successfully in tandem cold rolling mills. It essentially utilizes the roll gap of a stand to control the
entry tension. The load cell of the interstand looper measures the strip tension between the stands while the looper is in
position control and keeps its position constant.

Figure 2: Overview of Ultra-Thin Rolling Control

Ultra-Thin Rolling Control uses three actuating variables.
• Wdsx: Additional reference gap position for Hydraulic Gap Control (HGC), if HGC is in average position control
• WdFWx: Additional reference force for HGC, if HGC is in sum force control
• Wdvx: Additional reference speed for Master Ramp Generator (MRG), if actual specific tension is out of limits
Two actuating variables (Wdsx, WdFWx) are for the Hydraulic Gap Control and one actuating variable (Wdvx) is for the
Master Ramp Generator, which calculates reference circumferential speed for the stand. In accordance to the active hydraulic
gap control mode, technological sum roll force corrections (WdFWx) or average gap position corrections (Wdsx) are
calculated by the Ultra-Thin Rolling Control.
In case of overshooting specific tension limits, Ultra-Thin Rolling Control issues a speed correction for the Master Ramp
Generator to hold the specific tension at the upper or lower limit. This speed correction is reduced to zero as soon as the
actual specific tension is inside the limits.
Ultra-Thin Rolling Control is implemented at each mill stand of finishing mill with the exception of the first stand. The ESP
finishing mill consists of five stands. Depending on the material dimension, the Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode (UTRM) will be
selected during endless rolling accordingly and with smooth transition functionality. During this mode the automation

1554 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

functions Automatic Gauge Control (AGC), Looper Tension Control and the Loop Control between the stands are
deactivated.

Bumpless switch between control modes

Rolling in an ESP plant begins and ends in Conventional Hot Rolling Mode (CHRM). The Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode
(UTRM) can be used only in Endless Mode, in which the Caster, High-Reduction Mill and the Finishing Mill are connected
by a strip. This requires a bumpless switch between Conventional Hot Rolling Mode and Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode in both
directions. The following figure displays the active controllers during CHRM and during UTRM.

Figure 3: Active controller in Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode (UTRM) and in Conventional Hot Rolling Mode (CHRM)
In both modes the Thickness Monitor (THC), Master Ramp Generator (MRG) and Hydraulic Gap Control (HGC) are active.
During Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode, the Ultra-Thin Rolling Control (UTR) is active and the Hydraulic Looper Control (HLC)
is switched to Position Control.
During Conventional Hot Rolling Mode, the Automatic Gauge Control (AGC) and Loop Control (LCT) are active. The
Hydraulic Looper Control (HLC) is switched to Tension Control.
In order to avoid jumps in the roll force, strip tension, gap and looper position when switching between modes, the outputs of
the deactivated controllers are held as long as necessary. The following figure shows the bumpless switching of the control
modes during rolling from Conventional Hot Rolling Mode to Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode and back again to Conventional Hot
Rolling Mode. In the actual values of specific tension, roll force, looper position, circumferential speed and gap position,
there are no oscillations and no operating point changes. As expected, the actual looper position during Ultra-Thin Rolling
Mode remains constant.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1555

 Figure 4: Bumpless switch between Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode (UTRM) and Conventional Hot Rolling Mode (CHRM)

Flying Gauge Change in Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode

During endless rolling, the Flying Gauge Change is used to adjust the load distribution and the exit thickness of the finishing
mill for each strip. For this purpose, the process automation calculates target values for
• reference gap position,
• reference rolling force,
• reference circumferential speed of work roll and
• reference strip tension
for each stand under consideration of the current production planning. In the case of Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode, the reference
circumferential speeds are the crucial target value to determine the thickness reduction of each stand and the load distribution
in the finishing mill.
The reference circumferential speed 𝑣 ∗ , is calculated from the actual mass flow 𝑣 ∙ ℎ in the finishing mill, the reference exit
thickness ℎ∗ and the reference forward slip 𝑘 ∗ for stand 𝑥 according to formula (1).

𝑣∙ℎ
𝑣∗ , (1)
ℎ∗ ∙ 1 𝑘 ∗

The following figure shows an example of the reference circumferential speeds of stand 5 as a function of the exit
thickness. One point represents the target value for one strip.

1556 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

 Figure 5: Example of reference circumferential speed of stand 5

Roll Eccentricity
Eccentricities of back-up rolls and work rolls reduce the strip thickness quality in a finishing mill. Especially in the final
stands of the finishing mill, roll eccentricity has a large influence on the exit thickness. An exaggerated example of roll
eccentricity and the influence on the exit thickness quality is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Negative influence of roll eccentricity on the strip thickness

In practice, roll eccentricity can assume almost any shape but it is a periodic function due to the rotation of the rolls. To
describe the shape of roll eccentricity, the finite Fourier series is used. A Fourier series is a way to represent a function 𝑠 𝑡
as the sum of sinusoidal functions depending on the time period 𝑇. [3] The coefficients 𝑎 and 𝑏 denote the amplitude, 𝐴
denotes a constant value and 𝑡 is a real variable (e.g. time).

2∙𝜋∙𝑡 2∙𝜋∙𝑡
𝑠 𝑡 𝐴 𝑎 ∙ cos 𝑛 ∙ 𝑏 ∙ sin 𝑛 ∙ (2)
𝑇 𝑇

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1557

To demonstrate the capability of approximation of periodic functions with Fourier series, let us now look at an ideal square
wave with the frequency 𝑓 1⁄𝑇. An ideal square wave can be described with an infinite Fourier series in the formula (3).
[4]

4 sin 2 ∙ 𝜋 ∙ 2 ∙ 𝑛 1 ∙ 𝑓 ∙ 𝑡
𝑦 𝑡 ∙ (3)
𝜋 2∙𝑛 1

The approximation of 𝑦 𝑡 with four sinusoidal functions 𝑁 4 is illustrated in the formula (4) and in the Figure 7. It can
be seen that 𝑦 𝑡 is an approximation of 𝑦 𝑡 .

4 1 1 1
𝑦 𝑡 ∙ sin 2 ∙ 𝜋 ∙ 𝑓 ∙ 𝑡 ∙ sin 3 ∙ 2 ∙ 𝜋 ∙ 𝑓 ∙ 𝑡 ∙ sin 5 ∙ 2 ∙ 𝜋 ∙ 𝑓 ∙ 𝑡 ∙ sin 7 ∙ 2 ∙ 𝜋 ∙ 𝑓 ∙ 𝑡
𝜋 3 5 7 (4)

The more sinusoidal functions are used for the approximation, the more accurate the result will be.

y(t) (ideal square wave)

(4/ ) sin(2 f t)
1.5 (4/ ) (1/3)*sin(3 2 f t)
1 (4/ ) (1/5)*sin(5 2 f t)
(4/ ) (1/7)*sin(7 2 f t)
0.5

-0.5

-1

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Time t [s]
y(t) (ideal square wave)
yA (t) (square wave approximation)
1.5

0.5

-0.5

-1

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Time t [s]

Figure 7: Approximation of ideal square wave with finite Fourier series 𝑵 𝟒

Therefore, the finite Fourier series are well suited for describing roll eccentricities. In the following, the sinusoidal functions
are referred to as harmonics, where the first harmonic is defined by the fundamental frequency 𝑓.

Roll Eccentricity Compensation

Ultra-Thin Rolling Control contains an integrated Roll Eccentricity Compensation (REC). The target of REC is to
compensate for influences of roll eccentricities on strip thickness due to the dynamic position change of a hydraulic screw-
down system. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between the frequency of the top backup roll, bottom backup roll and
work rolls due to differences in roll diameters 𝐷 , , 𝐷 , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷 . Due to the small differences in the diameter of
the work rolls, the upper and lower work roll do not have to be considered separately during compensation.
The 𝑛 harmonic frequency 𝑓 , is calculated by the diameter 𝐷 and by the roll speed 𝑣 according to formula (5):

𝑣
𝑓, 𝑛∙
𝜋∙𝐷 (5)
The gap compensation signal is specified on two harmonics of each roll (top backup roll, bottom backup roll and work rolls)
and to a maximal frequency of 20 Hz. Depending on requirements, an extension to more harmonics for each roll is possible.

1558 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

The calculation method of Roll Eccentricity Compensation is based on a Luenberger observer [5] using a model of a tension
controlled system and a model of periodic disturbances. The periodic disturbance model contains the Laplace transform of
sinusoidal functions [6] for eccentricity approximation of top and bottom back-up roll and work rolls. The inputs of the Roll
Eccentricity Compensation are the entry specific tension, the circumferential speed, the diameter of rolls and the model
parameter. The output is the additional gap compensation signal which is a part of the actuating variable Wdsx of Ultra-Thin
Rolling Control.

Figure 8: Roll Eccentricity Compensation – Concept

An example with large back-up roll eccentricities in stand 5 with active and inactive Roll Eccentricity Compensation is
shown in Figure 9. The entry specific tension, the compensation signal for eccentricities and the exit thickness are displayed
depending on time and frequency. At stand 5, the first harmonic of back-up rolls is 1.39 Hz and the second harmonic of work
rolls is 7.6 Hz.
In the case of inactive Roll Eccentricity Compensation, the entry tension of stand 5 and the exit thickness of the finishing
mill contain large disturbances of back-up roll eccentricities and smaller disturbances of work roll eccentricity. The standard
deviation of exit thickness during this time period is 4.2 µm.
In comparison, the standard deviation of the exit thickness during the first period with active Roll Eccentricity Compensation
is 2.7 µm, which corresponds to an improvement of 35 %. Here, the Roll Eccentricity Compensation calculates an additional
gap position for the Hydraulic Gap Control. The amplitude of the first and second harmonic of back-up rolls is 37 µm and 20
µm, respectively.
The Roll Eccentricity Compensation in Ultra-Thin Rolling Control improves the strip tension and thickness performance
significantly by compensating for existing roll eccentricities.

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1559

 Roll Eccentricity Compensation Roll Eccentricity Compensation Roll Eccentricity Compensation
active inactive active

Roll Eccentricity Compensation active Roll Eccentricity Compensation inactive

Standard deviation of exit thickness = 2.7 µm Standard deviation of exit thickness = 4.2 µm

Figure 9: Roll Eccentricity Compensation – Results – time and frequency based

Exit thickness performance

Ultra-Thin Rolling Control achieves excellent results at Rizhao ESP No. 4, and the control is used for endless rolling of strips
with exit thickness below 3 mm. To prove this capability, the exit thickness performance of two similar sequences is
compared with Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode and with Conventional Hot Rolling Mode. In both sequences, the roll eccentricities
are very small and have no relevant influence on the exit thickness performance. Such comparable sequences with exit
thickness between 0.7 mm and 1.0 mm and a time period of 2 hours are shown in Figure 10. The standard deviation of exit

1560 © 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

thickness deviation is used over the whole time period as a performance indicator. In the Conventional Hot Rolling Mode
sequence, the standard deviation of the whole period is 3.1 µm. In Ultra-Thin Rolling Mode, the sequence has a standard
deviation of 2.4 µm, which corresponds to an improvement of more than 20%.

Figure 10: Exit thickness performance of Ultra-Thin Rolling Control compared to Conventional Hot Rolling Control
Also for thicker materials, the thickness performance of Ultra-Thin Rolling Control is very good. Moreover, in the whole
thickness range, this control proves an amazing stability during Flying Gauge Change due to an excellent design matching
between the controllers of the finishing mill and an accurate target calculation of circumferential speeds.

CONCLUSIONS
In order to achieve good thickness performance in the finishing mills, an innovative automation solution must include an
accurate target calculation, compensation for periodic disturbances such as roll eccentricities and well-adjusted tension and
thickness controls. Ultra-Thin Rolling Control fulfils these requirements and improves the strip tension and thickness
performance compared to the Conventional Hot Rolling Control especially during ultra-thin rolling on an ESP. Ultra-Thin
Rolling Control is responsible for this, with a model-based control parameter setting, stable Roll Eccentricity Compensation
as well as an accurate target calculation of circumferential speeds.

REFERENCES
1. A. Jungbauer, B. Linzer and A. Viehböck “Give me Five – Rizhao Steel counts on Arvedi ESP for high quality hot strip
production”, AISTech 2015
2. D. Kotzian, A. Gruess “New strip tension control for better thickness performance at Finishing Mills”, ESTAD 2017
3. R.J. Beerends, H. G. ter Morsche, J. C. van den Berg, E. M. van de Vrie, Fourier and Laplace Transforms, Cambridge
University Press, 2003, p. 63
4. Prem K. Kythe, Sinusoids Theory and Technological Applications, 2.7 Square Waveform, CRC Press, 2015, p. 50
5. W. S. Levine, The Control Handbook, CRC Press LLC 1995, chapter 37, Observers, p. 607
6. Peter K. F. Kuhfittig, A Introduction to the Laplace Transform, Plenum Press, New York, 1978, Appendix B, p. 180

© 2019 by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology. 1561