EC

The main goal of this project is the development and application of software sensors for the estimation of hard-to-measure quality and process parameters (e.g. thermal state, mill state and process state) during processing. This builds up the basis for automatic fault-detection and diagnosis of causes. The considered processing stages are hot rolling, tandem cold rolling and temper rolling. Hot strip mill: A virtual thermal sensor system was developed, based on the intelligent elaboration of data coming from the various thermal measurement devices along the line. The system is able to predict instabilities in rolling operation and to detect quality inconsistencies. The virtual global thermal indicator has been implemented to give support to operators by providing intelligent information about the whole thermal characteristics of the slab/bar/strip and the concerned rolling stability. Tandem mill: The developed system extracts new knowledge from the facility, taking advantage of the great automation that is implemented nowadays. Two main topics were treated during the project, both referring to mill quality: rolls evolution and coil quality online assess. The system is able to perform online visual data mining. Temper mill: Several modules for automatic and systematic quality defect detection have been developed and tested: an automatic diagnosis system supervising 39 defect frequencies, automatic identification/differentiation of incoming and locally produced periodic thickness faults, a chatter mark compensation system, a soft-sensor for coil tumble detection, extended methods for control performance monitoring and the dynamic fingerprint method.

KI-NA-23893-EN-S

Intelligent soft-sensor technology and automatic model-based diagnosis for improved quality, control and maintenance of mill production lines (Softdetect) EUR23893

Intelligent soft-sensor technology and automatic model-based diagnosis for improved quality, control and maintenance of mill production lines (Softdetect)

Price (excluding VAT) in Luxembourg: EUR 20

Interested in European research?

RTD info is our quarterly magazine keeping you in touch with main developments (results, programmes, events, etc.). It is available in English, French and German. A free sample copy or free subscription can be obtained from: Directorate-General for Research Information and Communication Unit European Commission B-1049 Brussels Fax (32-2) 29-58220 E-mail: research@ec.europa.eu Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/research/rtdinfo/index_en.html

How to obtain EU publications

Publications for sale: via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu); from your bookseller by quoting the title, publisher and/or ISBN number; by contacting one of our sales agents directly. You can obtain their contact details on the Internet (http://bookshop.europa.eu) or by sending a fax to +352 2929-42758. Free publications: via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu); at the European Commission's representations or delegations. You can obtain their contact details on the Internet (http://ec.europa.eu/) or by sending a fax to +352 2929-42758.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Research Research Fund for Coal and Steel Unit Contact: RFCS publications Address: European Commission, CDMA 0/124, B-1049Brussels Fax (32-2) 29-65987; e-mail: rtd-steel@ec.europa.eu

European Commission

Research Fund for Coal and Steel

Intelligent soft-sensor technology and automatic model-based diagnosis for improved quality, control and maintenance of mill production lines (Softdetect)
J. Polzer, M. Markworth, M. Jelali (1), J. L. Redueles (2), F. Sanfilippo, M. Lupinelli (3), L. Onofri (4), J. Busch (5), P. Michels (6), A. Diez, A. Cuadrado (7)
(1) VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut (BFI) Sohnstrae 65, 40237 Dsseldorf, GERMANY (2) Aceralia Avenida de Gijn s/n, 33400 Avils, SPAIN (3) CSM Via di Castel Romano 100, 00128 Rome RM, ITALY (4) TKAST Viale B. Brin 218, 05100 Terni TR, ITALY (5) IMS Messsysteme GmbH Dieselstrae 55, 42579 Heiligenhaus, GERMANY (6) Rasselstein Koblenzer Strasse 141, 56626 Andernach, GERMANY (7) Universidad de Oviedo Plaza de Riego, 4, 33003, SPAIN

Contract No RFSR-CT-2004-00017 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2007

Final report

Directorate-General for Research

2009

EUR 23893 EN

LEGALNOTICE Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the following information.

Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*):

00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11
(*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed.

Agreat deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2009 ISBN 978-92-79-11980-4 ISSN 1018-5593 doi 10.2777/53474 European Communities, 2009 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Luxembourg
Printed on white chlorine-free paper

Table of Contents
1 2 3 Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 4 Final Summary ................................................................................................................... 5 Scientific and technical description of the results.......................................................... 13 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Introduction.................................................................................................................. 13 Objectives .................................................................................................................... 13 Comparison of initially planned activities and work accomplished ............................ 14 Description of activities and discussion....................................................................... 16

CMS and TKAST............................................................................................................................ 14

WP 1 Preparations and Critical Assessment of Available Techniques.................................. 16

TASK 1.1 TASK 1.2 TASK 1.3 TASK 1.4 TASK 1.5 Basic specifications ................................................................................................... 16 Software/Hardware installations ............................................................................... 21 Basic implementations and data acquisition.............................................................. 24 Assessment of available techniques .......................................................................... 32 Advanced algorithms for data analysis and visualisation.......................................... 35

WP 2 Development of Soft-Sensor based Monitoring and Diagnosis Systems .................... 40

TASK 2.1 TASK 2.2 TASK 2.3 TASK 2.4 TASK 2.5 Virtual thermal sensor based diagnosis ..................................................................... 40 Mill-status and Thickness-quality soft-sensing and monitoring................................ 46 Chatter observer and chatter compensation system................................................... 54 Control performance diagnosis.................................................................................. 59 Development of Automatic Fault-Diagnosis Tools................................................... 64

WP 3 Design and implementation of front-end interfaces..................................................... 77

TASK 3.1 TASK 3.2 TASK 3.3 Methods & systems for hot strip mills ...................................................................... 77 Methods and systems for tandem cold mills ............................................................. 87 Methods & systems for temper mills......................................................................... 94

WP 4 On-site integration, testing, tuning and evaluation of the developed systems............. 97

TASK 4.1 TASK 4.2 TASK 4.3 Hot strip mill at TKAST............................................................................................ 97 Tandem cold mill at Aceralia .................................................................................. 100 Temper mill at RASSELSTEIN .............................................................................. 109

3.6 3.7 4 5 6

Conclusions................................................................................................................ 115 Exploitations and impact of the research results ....................................................... 116

List of figures .................................................................................................................. 119 List of Tables................................................................................................................... 123 List of references............................................................................................................. 125

Annex 1................................................................................................................................... 127 Annex 2................................................................................................................................... 128 Annex 3................................................................................................................................... 131

Abstract
The main goal of this project is the development and application of software sensors for the estimation of hard to measure quality and process parameters (e.g. thermal state, mill state and process state) during processing. This builds up the basis for automatic fault-detection and diagnosis of causes. The considered processing stages are hot rolling, tandem cold rolling and temper rolling. Hot strip mill: a virtual thermal sensor system was developed, based on the intelligent elaboration of data coming from the various thermal measurement devices along the line. The system is able to predict instabilities in rolling operation and to detect quality in-consistencies. The Virtual Global Thermal Indicator has been implemented to give support to operators by providing intelligent information about the whole thermal characteristics of the slab/bar/strip and the concerned rolling stability. Tandem mill: The developed system extracts new knowledge from the facility, taking advantage of great automation that is implemented nowadays. Two main topics were treated during the project, both referring to mill quality: rolls evolution and coil quality - on-line assess. The system is able to perform on-line visual data mining. Temper mill: Several modules for automatic and systematic quality defect detection have been developed and tested: an automatic diagnosis system which is supervising 39 defect frequencies, automatic identification/differentiation of incoming and local produced periodic thickness faults, a chatter mark compensation system, a soft-sensor for coil tumble detection, extended methods for control performance monitoring and the method of the dynamic fingerprint.

Final Summary

1.1 WP 1: Preparations and Critical Assessment of Available Techniques

The main aim of this work package was to specify the work objectives and means and to perform basic preparation work in terms of software and hardware planning, purchasing, installations and pre-testing. Moreover, data acquisition tools were implemented, initial campaigns of data acquisition carried out, and available methods critically assessed.

TASK 1.1 Basic specifications

In hot strip mills thermal characteristics of the slab/bar/strip are extremely important for rolling stability and final product quality. Basic requirements have been defined concerning the following items: thermal sensors, data acquisition and elaboration and alarm procedures. In the cold rolling tandem mill the minimal requirements, regarding the set of variables and the type of plots to display them, were defined. Three software applications were developed based on these requirements: data acquisition and on-line monitoring application, off-line data analysis application, for data preparation and feature extraction and the model manager application, for model generation and rule management. The online application acquires data from 29 field signals and 89 signals from process computer. The basis for the diagnosis system at the temper mill NWW 4 of Rasselstein has been developed in the project "Diagnosis assistance for process performance, dynamic plant condition and periodic quality defects in the cold rolling area" (ECSC 7210). The specifications for this project of the needed signals and hardware have been done.

TASK 1.2 Software/Hardware installations

New hardware was installed in the mills and interfaced with the existing automation and process control systems for data acquisition and related process parameters and management. Suitable software for data capturing at the necessary acquisition rate as well as software for pre-processing the signals and extracting significant information were designed and implemented. The necessary wiring and tests of acquisition and communication among computers were established.

TASK 1.3 Basic implementations and data acquisition

Hot strip mill As basis for the virtual thermal sensor it has been necessary to: refer all the temperature data of the slab/bar/strip according to a length basis, in order to compare directly the thermal condition in different locations along the mill, apply special filtering procedures in order to remove or at least reduce undesired parts of the signal, such as random noise, to improve the quality of the supplied information, install two new pyrometers, the first one at Walking Beam furnace entry and the second one at Roughing Mill entry,

Cold rolling tandem mill The data acquisition rate of the acquisition software has be adapted to handle the huge amount of data stored. Finally it was decided to use a lower sample rate of 2000 Hz. The data acquisition application samples signals from the mill working in two different situations: rolling: acquisition during normal production, idle run: 500 m/min speed, 250 t. rolling force (each side, 500 total), rolls in direct contact and without strip.

The information displayed in real time by this application during the acquisition is: signals in time domain, spectra (FFT) and several statistics (mean, standard deviation, maximum, minimum). Furthermore the feature extraction techniques have been selected and implemented for being used both in the off-line data analysis application and in the on-line application. Temper mill The analysis of the actual state of the temper mill concerning the vibration behaviour has been done. Therefore 37 different signals of the process (thickness, rolling speed, rolling force, bending, tension) and vibration signals of the plant (accelerations) were used. For the model based correlation between faults and causes a database of the plant within the defect frequencies of every part of the mill was built up.

TASK 1.4 Assessment of available techniques

First design of databases dedicated to the virtual sensors, performance monitoring and automatic diagnosis systems were assessed according to the different plant/process parameters of the different steel grades taking into account the already defined process and quality indicators.

TASK 1.5 Advanced algorithms for data analysis and visualisation

The off-line analysis application of ACERALIA is able to perform a feature extraction and display the results in several kinds of graphs, and the results are stored in the database, together with acquisition data and model data. The feature extraction is carried out after selecting the source coils and the configuration of the feature extraction. Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) are used as a visual data mining tool, not as a model. The two basic SOM graphic representations are the component planes and the distance map. Each one show the visualization space, which in this case has to be interpreted as a map of the process states recorded in the dataset under analysis, and display their own information. For the vibration diagnosis system of BFI new offline visualization and analysis tools have been developed. By positioning the curser in the coil, automatically the corresponding strip speed is read and the defect frequencies are recalculated and plotted with the parameters of the shown coil, the warn- and alarm-threshold. Furthermore the results of the diagnosis system are stored over the coil length.

1.2 WP 2 Development of Soft-Sensor based Monitoring and Diagnosis Systems

The aim was to establish virtual sensors in particular using state observer design methods and models available to calculate key variables online based on collected system input and output signals. Based on this, advanced methods and algorithms for soft sensing, quality/process monitoring and fault diagnosis were developed. Particularly, automatic procedures to determine and adapt essential parameters and diagnosis methods to detect automatically incoming defects, sub-systems and components responsible for quality faults, were taken into account as well as a trend monitoring and defect prognosis.

TASK 2.1 Virtual thermal sensor based diagnosis

The activities related to this work package have finalised to the development of a virtual sensor (Virtual Global Thermal Indicator) that, on the basis of precise relationships between temperature rundown of the slab/bar/strip and rolling process stability, permits to support operators providing both intelligent information about thermal characteristics of the slab/bar/strip and guidelines to manage the process: a) The updated procedures to acquire, elaborate and store the thermal measurements have been applied to all devices available along the production line; the revise temperature measurements, coming from each hot strip mill area, have been analysed in order to identify a group of key variables (Thermal Indicators) able to characterize the thermal state of the product, under rolling or just rolled, in a short way. b) Assessment of precise rules providing thermal state classification has been done for each thermal indicator. c) Normalization of the actual value of each Thermal Indicator in the range [0 99], in this way each limit value, different for each thermal indicator, identifies a precise normalised value according to appropriate rules. d) Assessment of the contribution of each thermal indicators has been done to the rolling instabilities through the investigation of the historical data. The interaction among the thermal indicators and the rolling stability cannot be represented by a mathematical function; empirical rules have been detected on the basis of a relevant amount of the historical data. e) The a) b) c) and d) steps were used to design and to develop a software code to calculate the virtual thermal sensor, called Virtual Global Thermal Indicator (ITVG), to relate thermal rundown and process stability.

TASK 2.2 Mill-status and Thickness-quality soft-sensing and monitoring

The main utility of the off-line data analysis tool is obtaining a feature extraction with a set of data containing all significant available states of the rolling mill. This feature extraction can be used in the model manager application to generate a dimension reduction model which can be used in the on-line application to monitor the condition of the rolling mill. It can be also used to obtain new rules which can be used for early detection of future faults, to diagnose problems and, more specifically, to deduce how to achieve transitions of the mill from one condition, generally when the product does not meet customers' requirements or simply when producing sub-optimally, to another condition, generally optimal or just within requirements. The basic principle consists in revealing the differences between similar mill conditions, when some of them are considered bad and the others are considered good. That can be performed either using dimension reduction models or rule bases. The final aim is to help maintenance and production staff, providing them with corrective actions to take the mill back to the best conditions. Those capabilities will be present in the on-line application, which will show the condition of the mill, and in the model manager application, which will be used to analyse the transitions between mill conditions. During the analysis, the addition of the correlation maps to the data analysis application was considered important and carried out. These maps provide information on correlations between variables for

different states or conditions of the process and are able to show local correlations of the process. To allow the detection of the state of rolls and its influence in the thickness quality, the algorithm for the calculation of rms values in frequency bands with variable centre frequency was added to the other feature extraction algorithms.

TASK 2.3 Chatter observer

Chatter marks are periodic stripes on the rolls. Depending on the kind of equipment construction and process conditions the distance between these parallel marks various from about 5 mm up to 100 mm, the amplitudes can take values of "not measurable" up to 1020 m. Chatter marks on rolls affect thus negatively on the product quality and/or the productivity and increase the maintenance cost by the additional changes of the rolls. As chatter effects on the strip quality cannot be easily detected when the thickness variation produced is very small and the effect is given essentially in terms of chatter marks, the aim was to develop a model based chatter observer. The dynamic behaviour of the plant, in particular the vibration of the rolls, is responsible for the chatter mark formation. These special oscillations depend on the plant (self-dynamics, condition of the construction units...), on the process (rolling speed, rolling forces, strip strains, lubrication...), and depend on the product (strip material, dimensions, reduction per pass, hardness...). Typical chatter marks formed in the two stand temper mill of Rasselstein have distances between the marks of about 18.5 mm. The reasons are vibrations in the eigen-mode, where the backup roll is moving in the eigenfrequency against the work roll with a frequency of 1720 Hz, and with very low damping. At a rolling speed of about 1900 m/min this mode induces the marks on the backup rolls with 18.5 mm wavelength. The main idea of the observer / chatter reduction system was to avoid the vibration under constant conditions that will cause the chatter marks. Precondition is the knowledge of the critical eigenfrequency, which changes depended on the roll set, on the strip, but also on the process parameters. Basis is a model of the mill that was updated by measurement analysis. On the basis of this model a module was developed to reduce significantly the chatter phenomena. The results of this algorithm can be made visible for the plant driver, be affected manually then the process, or be used for an automatic speed adaptation of the process.

TASK 2.4 Control performance diagnosis

Aim of the project was to develop a control-performance assessment (CPA) and adjustment tools to enable early warnings regarding to under-performing control loops, based on data acquired under normal plant production conditions without any additional excitations. Poor control performance in rolling processes can be caused e.g. by inadequate controller tuning and lack of maintenance, equipment malfunction or poor design, poor or missing feed-forward compensation, or/and inappropriate control structure. For the test and monitoring of the level of control performance at Rasselstein temper mill a CPAanalysis tool of BFI was adapted and applied to the thickness and flatness control. This tool includes the following stages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Determination of the capability of the running control system. Selection and design of a benchmark for performance assessment. Assessment and detection of poor performing loops. Diagnosis of the underlying causes. Suggestion of improvement measures.

TASK 2.5 Development of Automatic Fault-Diagnosis Tools

Objective of this task was to develop automatic adaptation of fault-alarm thresholds, advanced fault diagnosis procedures, automatic trend detection and prognosis of defect-related states, and identification of incoming strip-characteristics relevant for fault generation. For the automatic adaptation of fault-alarm thresholds special off-line analysis and import routines for the stored raw data have been programmed. As raw data the calculated frequency spectra, the defect frequencies of the components and the work roll revolutions are stored. By considering the strip speed, the defect frequency of each component can be delivered for every position in the measurements. For all supervised components it is now possible to visualize and analyse the maximum amplitudes and the alarm thresholds of all for an arbitrary amount of coils. Using an advanced fault diagnosis procedures a soft-sensor for finding and visualization of slipping effects during rolling at the temper mill of Rasselstein was created. The transformation of the thickness into frequency domain delivers an unusual signal, so an algorithm was developed that analyses the thickness signal in time domain, considering the standard deviation and the unsymmetrical distribution of the thickness outlier. The generated soft-sensor for detection of the slipping effect using the inputand output-signal gives a slipping-warning in time. For an automatic trend detection and prognosis of defect-related states the method of the dynamic fingerprint was developed by BFI. This allows separation of the natural behaviour and the excitation behaviour, but also a failure analysis of the plant components, a trend analysis of the global plant condition, and at least a quality control of dynamic induced defects. Theoretical background of the Dynamic Fingerprint is to use short-time frequency transformation and to analysis spectrograms, orderspectrograms as well as sum-spectra, line-spectra and time-frequency-lines in case of special rollingspeed-conditions. Especially in the starting period of down-coiling the coil-tumble is a critical problem. Only little unbalance can yield to high forces and high tumble magnitudes and the results are increasing deformations and wear but also process-instabilities and strip-faults. To give the operator an objective indicator about the fault intensity, and to give a speed-reduction advice a soft-sensor for coil tumbling identification was developed by BFI. Special algorithms as well in frequency-domain as in time-domain were programmed to analyse the signals from two accelerometer-sensors installed at the down-coiler. An optical measurement system (TopPlan) was installed at Rasselstein at the input of finishing line for online determination of the strip shape in this late processing stage. A special procedure to compare the measured flatness at exit of the temper with the flatness at the finishing line, measured with TopPlan, was developed.

1.3 WP 3 Design and Implementation of Front-end Interfaces

The main activities related to the WP3 have concerned the design, development and implementation of an on-line monitoring system to provide the elaborated diagnostic information as clearly and immediately as possible as to al-low operators to carry out the necessary counter measures.

TASK 3.1 Methods & systems for hot strip mills

The soft-sensors are realised through the integration of two modules: User-friendly interface. Following plant operator and technician suggestions, the dedicated user-friendly interface, called Skid Analyzer, has been realised in order to provide (graphical representation) the elaborated diagnostic information. Web techniques have been used in order to spread information to all involved final users (plant operators/technicians). Real-time alarm system. The alarm system, based on the developed soft-sensors / rules notifies to the operators the operative countermeasures to be adopted in case of thermal inconsistencies by suitable visual and audio information.

TASK 3.2 Methods & systems for tandem cold mills

The developed methods allow the visualisation of the actual mill status and any number of old mill statuses in a two dimensional map. The map is divided in separate regions which belong to good, medium and bad mill conditions. In the acquisition and monitoring application, the map of the mill states/conditions is shown and a pointer in real time points out the state in the map most similar to the current mill condi-tion, along with the residuals or differences of the current values of the variables (present in the model) and their values in the model corresponding to the estimated condition. This method is also applied to mill condition assessment in idle-run mode. Several tools have been developed in order to allow the applications of data mining techniques directly from the system without the need of exporting data for further Knowledge Data Dis-covery (KDD) techniques. The tool was provided with several soft-computing and statistical techniques as: Self- Organized Maps (SOM), Table Lens, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Probability Density Function (pdf) and more. These tools are also implemented in the acquisition and monitoring application.

TASK 3.3 Methods & systems for temper mills

The chatter compensation system was programmed and integrated in the diagnosis system. First tests of the module at the temper mill NWW 4 have been successful. The coil tumble soft-sensor was realised with the graphical programming language LogiCAD. The coil tumble amplitude is prepared for online visualisation for the operator. Furthermore is the amplitude stored in the SQL-database. An automatic calculation of warn and alarm thresholds was realised in two steps. First an offline analysis of an arbitrary amount of coils and second the activation of the determined alarm and warn thresholds in the diagnosis system. The methods of dynamic finger prints have been tested and analysed at the NNW 4.

1.4 WP 4 On-site Integration, Testing, Tuning and Evaluation of the Developed Systems
This work package includes the creation of the final software, its integration in the mills, and on-site systems testing.

TASK 4.1 Hot strip mill at TKAST

The following steps delivered a working virtual thermal sensor at the hot strip mill of TKAST: integration of the developed systems, virtual thermal sensor based system and alarm system, into the existing Hot Strip Mills automation and control process system, on-line test and tuning of the Skid Analyser interface, on-line test and tuning of the alarm system, on-site testing, tuning and evaluation of the whole system, final release of the whole system.

10

TASK 4.2 Tandem cold mill at ACERALIA

The developed system for tandem mills has been installed in the Tandem 2 tin plate cold rolling mill located in the ArcelorMittal facilities sited in Avils (Spain). In the last task some simple but very useful features were added to the software applications: condition-partition improvements, condition/coil statistics, roll change table, coil spectrogram, correlation matrix. During this last task of the project, the continuous use of the offline analysis application made clear some complexities in its use in a typical data analysis session. Some interface elements were reorganized or modified (menus and specific terms) and some simple tools added. The automatic partition of the process map in conditions was modified to shrink the frontiers between conditions. Previously, the frontiers were over-sized: they included states that should actually belong to a contiguous condition. The installed system turned out to be very useful to gain information about the mill state and the interrelations in the process.

TASK 4.3 Temper mill at RASSELSTEIN

The automatic diagnosis system KOPF is running at the NWW 4. The system uses six acceleration signals, three thickness signals and two roll speeds. The automatic diagnosis module takes 39 defect frequencies of the plant into account. The diagnosis system supervises the defect frequencies in all signals and delivers through a rule set the most probable cause of defects. A special module was realised to differentiate between periodic thickness defects produced at the actual plant (NWW 4) and incoming thickness defects of the previous plant. In the visualisation the causes of thickness defects produced at the NWW 4 are shown directly over the belonging defect amplitudes. The coil tumble soft-sensor was integrated in the existing automation system. The coil tumble amplitude is shown to the operator for the decision if the speed has to be reduced or not. For offline analysis the tumble amplitude is stored also in the SQL-database. With the control performance monitoring tools (CPM) the thickness control and flatness control of stand 1 and stand 2 at the NNW 4 were analysed. The thickness controls are working at a very high performance level. During the analysis of the flatness controls, it turned out that the flatness controls have been mostly deactivated. The resulting flatness is already in the small tolerance band. A control performance analysis is only possible for activated controllers.

11

Scientific and technical description of the results

2.1 Introduction
The standard of processing and plant maintenance determines the performance of the production system and thus decides on the outcome of steel plants, from product quality to on-time delivery. Poor processing and maintenance procedures can cost European steel companies millions of Euro in repairs, poor quality and lost production, whereas successful process optimisation and predictive maintenance practices can cut production costs immensely. The following elements can be seen as integral parts of a comprehensive system for best practices in process optimisation and plant maintenance leading to higher quality and productivity standards: In-line information on quality and process, calculated online with intelligent soft-sensors or state observers based on models and measured data. Automatic diagnosis of causes of the actual quality/process/plant problems or failures. Performance monitoring and assessment of plant components condition and control loops to squeeze out the last reserves of the production system, particularly of the quality-related control loops. Intelligent virtual-sensor technology for online estimating of hard-to-measure variables, such as the thermal state, mill state and process state, to enable the effective process monitoring and the enhanced online process control. Strategies and methods to automatically and systematically detect quality defects in mill production lines (related to thickness, profile, flatness and surface marks), or under-performed (basic and technological) control loops, or plant component failures, and diagnose the causes. Software tools and humanmachine interfaces to provide the plant personal with on-line forecasts of instabilities in rolling operation (i.e. strip steering, cobble probability, thickness oscillation and chatter marks) and/or strip quality inconsistencies (i.e., geometrical performance), and with guidance for re-establishing proper operating condition and product quality at the various plants.

Therefore, the present project aims at developing and demonstrating:

All these provides a contribution for hot- and cold-rolled strip producers to increase quality and reduce production costs to face the trend towards products with tight thickness and flatness tolerances, as well as surface-critical material e.g. used for exposed automotive applications.

2.2 Objectives
The main objectives of this project are summarised as follows: Development and implementation of virtual sensors for online estimating hard-to-measure variables (thermal status, roll status, strip geometry and surface marks) to provide effective process monitoring and enhanced process control. Working out and implementation of model- and soft-sensor-based automatic diagnosis of the causes of quality defects (strip geometry and flatness, marks on the surface) and prediction of defect relevant machinery condition and process instabilities for operator and maintenance use. Development and installation of control-loop performance diagnosis tools to assess the performance of basic and technological control loops in the mill line, providing the maintenance and automation engineers as well as the management with adequate information for decisions. Development and implementation of a thermal performance monitoring system for hot strip mill to predict instabilities in rolling operation and / or strip quality inconsistencies and to provide plant operators with guidance to re-establishing proper operating condition.

13

Determination of global intelligent indicators, based on the thermal performance and the control performance monitoring systems for reproducible and safe best rolling, supervised by the management. Extensive usage of web intranet facilities for an easy spreading of the information to line operators at each pulpit and to plant technicians.

2.3 Comparison of initially planned activities and work accomplished

CMS and TKAST
The aim of the project was to check the possibility to design soft sensor based system that, on the basis of intelligent elaboration of different measurement devices, is able to provide a comprehensive information for the best management of the process. On this basis, a thermal monitoring/diagnosis system, based on the intelligent elaboration of data coming from the various thermal measurement devices along the line (thermocouples, pyrometers, thermal mappings,), has been designed, developed and implemented at the TKAST Hot Strip Mill. Such system is able to detect thermal inconsistencies and their severity supporting operators by operative countermeasures to assure rolling stability. The system has currently in use at the mill and expected benefits are in terms of: decrease of cobbles, better geometrical strip performance (shape, profile, thickness), management of thickness out of tolerances to comply with subsequent process.

Further, the system is currently used by technicians to perform the through process standard investigation carried out. (For instance in case of cold process inconsistencies and/or customer claims) Finally, the system allows an easily improvement of operators and technicians knowledge about the rolling process.

14

ACERALIA and UNIOVI The aim in this project was to develop a system to extract new knowledge from facility, taken advantage of great automation that is implemented in today facilities So, a system able to develop on-line visual data mining was developed and installed in the mill. Two main topics were treated during project, both referring to mill quality topic: 1) Rolls evolution. One task of the project was to design a system in order to follow roll evolution against initial variables that could define initial roll status. By acquiring the rolling forces when mill is running in idle run at defined speed and roll force, the system is able of giving a quality evaluation in terms of rolls eccentricity The possibility of tracking the quality of rolls at any time with the possibility of determine the rolls deterioration is now able in the mill 2) Coil quality. On-line assess. Several tools and models for extracting knowledge from data (field and process computer) are at technician disposition right now. All the necessary to implement a model of mill status able to give back solutions of how to solve problems in the in mill is now ready to use. Also, an initial model with few status identified is also able. It is clear that this feature must be dynamic and must be continuously updated as soon as new status (failures) appears into the mill. At the mill, the system have been very useful from the early stages of the project for helping technician in the analysis of troubles during rolling, specially dealing with failures associated with specific frequencies. The global system is being demonstrated as very universal tool for diagnosis and right now is being planned to extrapolate the system to other facilities as HDGL for continuous checking the status of the line, specially during the processing of difficult material. Another possibility under study is the implementation of such a system for monitoring the mold vibration system in a continuous casting for better control of its performances. BFI, IMS and RASSELSTEIN The main aim of BFI, IMS and RASSELSTEIN in this project has been the development of strategies and methods for automatic and systematic quality defect detection in temper mills. The quality defects are related to thickness, flatness, surface marks, plant component failures or under-performed control loops. Therefore several modules were developed and tested at the temper mill NWW 4 of RASSELSTEIN: Diagnosis system K.O.P.F. with high sample rates of 5000 Hz for eight acceleration signals, three thickness signals and two roll speed signals (the signals are used for an automatic defect cause determination, considering 39 defect frequencies of the plant; besides the eigen frequencies, all defect frequencies are speed depended recalculated), Module to determine automatic the warn and alarm thresholds for the diagnosis system, Automatic identification/differentiation of incoming and local produced periodic thickness faults, Chatter compensation system which eliminates the chatter phenomena of 18 mm wavelength, Soft-sensor for coil tumbling at the down coiler which causes surface marks on the strip, Extension of methods for control performance monitoring and CPM analysis of the thickness controls and flatness controls of the NWW 4, The aim of automatic trend detection and prognosis of defect-related states was reached by use of the dynamic fingerprint, which includes a data-analysis of different signals of different plant components. By separation of eigen- and speed-proportional-behaviour for variable frequency ranges of the signals the method is used for monitoring of the plant and relevant components as well as for troubleshooting.

15

2.4 Description of activities and discussion WP 1 Preparations and Critical Assessment of Available Techniques
The main aim of this work package was to specify the work objectives and means and to perform basic preparation work in terms of software and hardware planning, purchasing, installations and pre-testing. Moreover, data acquisition tools were implemented, initial campaigns of data acquisition carried out, and available methods critically assessed.

TASK 1.1 Basic specifications

Based on a study of the installed systems on each considered mill and their expertise, all partners have specified the concrete work objectives, gathered process/plant models available, and pointed out the standard for data and information exchange as well as the hard- and software environments.

Hot strip mill

Thermal characteristics of the slab/bar/strip are extremely important for rolling stability and final product quality. Thermal inconsistencies on the product, such as unbalanced thermal profile between operator side and drive side, big temperature drop between head and tail, excessive skid marks, lower average temperature, can result in difficulties to manage the rolling process and, in the worse cases, can lead to cobbles. Further, the thermal inconsistencies of the product along the mill, affect the final quality in terms of geometrical parameters (crown, wedge, camber, flatness), surface and mechanical properties. The above lead to the development of a virtual thermal sensor based system that, on the basis of the intelligent elaboration of data coming from the various thermal measurement devices along the line (thermocouples, pyrometers, thermal mappings,) is able to: assess an online indicator of rolling stability (strip steering difficult, probability of cobble,.), guarantee the final product quality (dimension and shape), provide a feedback to overall process control, diagnose possible faults and/or malfunctions,

Moreover, the system has to provide operators with suitable guidelines to manage the rolling process. The involved TKAST Hot Strip Mill (see Figure 2.1) is characterised by the combined production from conventional and thin slabs (mix rolling); the thermal characteristics of the two type of slabs are significantly different, consequently the virtual thermal sensor based system is characterized by different diagnostic rules and operative countermeasures according to the slab production route, in order to manage the whole HSM production.

16

To guarantee the system functionality, basic requirements have been defined concerning the following items: thermal sensor (i.e. maintenance procedures, checks, etc.), thermal sensor acquisition and elaboration (how to get data from the field and how to manage the related information), operating procedures on rolling process coming from thermal rundown, user interface, alarm procedures, post-processing of thermal information.

For each items, the different requirements have been related according to the relevance for the project scope, classifying them with different level according to Tab. 1. .

Figure 2.1

TKAST Hot Strip Mill layout

The basic system specification for the SOFTDETECT Project is reported in the following. According to the relevance classification in Table 2.1,, Table 2.8 present the requirements for: thermal sensor (i.e. maintenance procedures, checks, etc.), thermal sensor acquisition and elaboration (how to get data from the field and how to manage the related information), operating procedures on rolling process coming from thermal rundown, user interface, alarm procedures, post-processing of thermal information.

17

Table 2.1
Fundamental Necessary Important Secondary

Requirements classification
F N I S When the requirement can compromise the entire system functionality When the requirement can reduce the system functionality When the requirement can reduce the system performance When the requirement can not reduce/compromise the system performance/functionality

Table 2.2
Name Th_se_eq_1 Th_se_eq_2 Th_se_eq_3 Th_se_eq_4 Th_se_eq_5 Th_se_eq_6 Th_se_eq_7

Requirement related to the thermal sensor equipment

Relevance F I F I I N I Description All the thermal sensors shall be kept clean All the thermal sensors shall be verified periodically The max discrepancy between the couple of pyrometers shall be properly fixed The fixed thermal sensor shall be pointed correctly to the bar/slab/Strip centre The scan thermal sensor must cover all the bar/slab/strip surface The sensors shall be positioned in a safe place in order to guarantee its safety and the reliability of the measurements All the sensors shall provide not filtered data

Table 2.3
Name Th_se_ac_1 Th_se_ac_2 Th_se_ac_3 Th_se_ac_4 Th_se_ac_5 Th_se_ac_6 Th_se_ac_7 Th_se_ac_8 Th_se_ac_9 Th_se_ac_1 0

Requirement related to the thermal sensor acquisition

Relevance F N N N S F F S N F Description The acquisition rate shall be a fix space sample The acquisition rate for the slab must be fixed The acquisition rate for the bar must be fixed The acquisition rate for the strip must be fixed The acquisition shall start at the begin of slab/bar/strip and stop at the end slab/bar/strip The acquisition method shall be robust and reliable In case of thermal sensor fault the acquisition must be declared not reliable The acquisition data could be load into a DB for future analysis and display The acquisition task must be able to make data filtering The acquisition tasks shall provide the data in real time for next elaboration

Table 2.4
Name Th_se_el_1 Th_se_el_2 Th_se_el_3 Th_se_el_4 Th_se_el_5 Th_se_el_6 Th_se_el_7

Requirement related to the thermal sensor elaboration

Relevance F F F I F F I Description The elaboration must provide information of thermal rundown before the bar reaches the finishing mill The thermal indicators shall be identified on the basis of their influence on the rolling process The limits of each thermal indicator shall be assessed related to precise procedures (i.e. statistics, hystorical, etc..) The limits must be stored/modified easily The thermal indicators, when overcome limits, shall provide information to the operators The indicators and limits must be stored in the DB An average of indicators must be provided

18

Table 2.5
Name Th_se_op_1 Th_se_op_2 Th_se_op_3 Th_se_op_4 Th_se_op_5

Requirement related to the thermal sensor operative

Relevance F F F I F Description The results of elaboration shall be sent to the liv.1 before the bar reaches the finishing mill When thermal indicator(s) is outside his limits the bar in front of FM will be blocked When thermal indicator(s) is outside his limits an alarm (voice/message) is provided before the bar will be blocked In case of voice/message alarm the indicators that excited the limit must be notified When thermal indicator(s) is outside his limits an alternative thickness and related set-up to FM is provided

Table 2.6
Name Th_se_hmi_1 Th_se_hmi_2 Th_se_hmi_3 Th_se_hmi_4 Th_se_hmi_5 Th_se_hmi_6 Th_se_hmi_7 Th_se_hmi_8

Requirement related to the thermal sensor HMI

Relevance F F I I I I F I Description The thermal indicators (physical and virtual ones) must be visible in every part of the company The thermal indicators (physical and virtual ones) must be displayed as soon as possible after the roll of bar The virtual indicator must be simply and intuitive The virtual indicator must be displayed relatively to the last rolled strip The HMI must provide a trend of each thermal indicators The HMI must display all the indicators for each sensor together with the trend The HMI shall be integrated in the existing thermal HMI The HMI must display also historical data

Table 2.7
Name Th_se_al_1 Th_se_al_2 Th_se_al_3 Th_se_al_4 Th_se_al_5 Th_se_al_6 Th_se_al_7 Th_se_al_8

Requirement related to the thermal sensor alarm

Relevance F F F F I I F F Description The Alarm generated shall be notified to the operators in real time The Alarm must contain information suitable to identify the related source The Alarm shall be provided also through a vocal reader The Alarm shall be classified and the tone and loud of voice shall be properly tuned The Alarm system must be autonomous with the possibility to integrate other alarms from the plant process control system The Alarm system shall use the client-server technology in order to install the system in different location The Alarms shall be sent to all HSM pulpits The alarm must be stored in DB

19

Table 2.8
Name Th_se_an_1 Th_se_an_2 Th_se_an_3 Th_se_an_4 Th_se_an_5

Requirement related to the thermal sensor post-processing analysis

Relevance F F F I I Description The system shall provide the thermal indicator values in a way to make possible off-line statistical elaboration The system shall provide tools to make a statistical elaboration of the thermal indicator values The result of statistical elaboration shall be provided to the system in order to tune the limits of indicators An offline system will permit the signal elaboration for improving the thermal indicators (physical and virtual ones) A modality to relate the indicator values and the rolling stability must be provided

Cold rolling tandem mill

During several meetings with the technicians of the Tandem 2 mill, the minimal requirements, regarding the set of variables and the type of plots to display them, were defined. Three software applications were developed based on these requirements: data acquisition and on-line monitoring application, off-line data analysis application, for data preparation and feature extraction, model manager application, for model generation and rule management.

On-line application The on-line application acquires data from 29 field signals and 89 signals from process computer. The list of process computer variables includes: number of coil, date, time, material type, rolls diameters, numbers (identification) of rolls, strip width, coolant temperature, strip temperature, foreseen forward slip, roll bending pressure in every stand, rolled strip length of the rolls in every stand, direct application concentration, direct application temperature, percentage of coolant (valve opening) in every stand and a coil percentage within 0,3% thickness tolerance (thickness quality indicator). The list of analog signals includes: speeds in every stand, rolling forces (both operator side and drive side) in every stand, vibration (accelerometers) in every stand, inter-stand strip tensions, input strip thickness in the stand 1, output thickness in stands 1, 2 and 5. The complete list of variables that the equipment is able to acquire is presented on Annex 3. The most important plots to assess the mill condition (especially roll condition) without further support and that are not available on other monitoring systems already in the facilities were determined. The spectra of both roll forces and vibrations were chosen, so they are shown in real time in the main window of the application. Any analog signal can be shown in time or frequency domain in secondary windows. Data analysis application The off-line data analysis application is devoted to the analysis of the data acquired by the on-line application, to extract new knowledge from the data, integrating the technician experience. The application was designed keeping in mind the application of visual data mining techniques. To allow initial variable pre-processing several features were implemented. Initially, it was considered that time plot, scatter plot, pdf scatter plot, table lens, PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and SOM (Self-Organizing Maps) will be the most helpful as visualization tools for this project. The design was also deliberately open so that other kinds of data mining techniques could be added in the future if they were deemed necessary.

20

Model manager application The model manager application is aimed at model generation and management using the results of feature extractions as input data. It combines two kinds of models: dimension reduction (SOM) models and rule based models. These capabilities were originally planned to be included in the data analysis application, but later it was decided to implement them in a separate application.

Temper mill
The basis for the diagnosis system at the temper mill NWW 4 of Rasselstein has been developed in the project "Diagnosis assistance for process performance, dynamic plant condition and periodic quality defects in the cold rolling area" (ECSC 7210). The principle idea of component supervision with frequency analysis is shown Figure 2.2. The specifications for this project of the needed signals and hardware have been done.
w d max d min a

Alarm threshold

Warn threshold

Figure 2.2

Principle of component supervision with frequency analysis

TASK 1.2 Software/Hardware installations

New hardware was installed in the mills and interfaced with the existing automation and process control systems for data acquisition and related process parameters and management. Suitable software for data capturing at the necessary acquisition rate as well as software for pre-processing the signals and extracting significant information were designed and implemented. The necessary wiring and tests of acquisition and communication among computers were established.

Hot strip mill

TKAST hot strip mill is characterised by complete automation and process control system with up to date mathematical models, for preset calculation of the various plants, and also a large number of sensors and measurement devices for slab/bar/strip characterisation. Moreover, a supervision system allows the product tracking from thin/conventional slab casting to coilers. On this basis, the system has been developed according to the existing standard for automation and process control, in terms of: hardware platforms (Alpha DS20-Open VMS, PC server-Windows), communications protocol with the field and between computers (TCP/IP, FTP, real time internal protocol),

21

data base (Oracle) for plant/process data collection/elaboration, programming languages (Fortran, C, PHP, HTML, SQL, Java) to set rules, develop virtual indicators and design user interface.

Intranet technologies, already in use at TKAST for other applications have been used to spread system outputs to each pulpit along the mill and to plant technicians. The system architecture is showed in Figure 2.3, where the field signals, acquired via level 2 computers, are collected through Oracle Data Base and linked to a workstation for data analysis and elaboration.

Figure 2.3

Basic hardware architecture for thermal analysis system

Cold rolling tandem mill

A cabinet with an industrial PC was purchased and installed. This computer is equipped with three Data Translation (DT-304) data acquisition boards. The operating system is Microsoft Windows 2000 and the database used is Microsoft SQL Server 2000. The cabinet installed in the mill, including computer and wiring, is shown in Figure 2.4

22

Figure 2.4

Cabinet with acquisition computer and wiring of field signals

The computer communicates with the process computer through an ethernet network card by means of a custom protocol over TCP/IP sockets. The network connection also permits using VNC for remote access, allowing the technician to check the on-line system from other facility locations. It is not necessary to run the off-line applications in the acquisition computer. They can be installed and used (as many copies as needed) in any other computer with network access to the acquisition computer. Even other copies of the acquisition application, with the proper configuration, can be used in the same way for off-line visualization of previously acquired data. The main programming language used in the development of the applications in this project is standard C++. In graphical user interface related coding, Borland C++ Builder is being used, along with the TeeChart library for plots/graphs/charts. Borland Database Engine (BDE) is used as programming interface for databases since project start, although later it was also combined with ODBC, used to solve specific problems related to BDE access to SQL Server.

Temper mill
For additional signal analysis the following time signals are stored with high speed for each coil: Three thickness signals (h0, h1, h2) with a sample rate of 1000Hz, Six acceleration signals three per stand (gear box and cross head drive side, cross head operator side) with a sample rate of 5000Hz.

Because of this high speed measuring, the installation of a new measuring interface had been necessary. Several changes and some new routines in the software were necessary. To handle all the data online an additional PC has been installed. As storage for the big amount of data of the diagnosis system a SQL-Server has been installed at the temper mill NWW 4 of Rasselstein.

23

TASK 1.3 Basic implementations and data acquisition

Hot strip mill
A check on the various thermal devices installed along the mill has been carried out in order to verify their capability to provide measurements suitable to the project scope. Once determined the reference measurements, the activities have been devoted to revise the procedures for temperature data acquisition and management, in order to improve as much as possible the thermal characterisation of the product along the mill. The new procedures to acquire, elaborate and store the thermal measurements have been developed and implemented and the data base structure has been realised for storing thermal rundown of each rolled product. Mainly, it has been necessary to:

refer all the temperature data of the slab/bar/strip according to a length basis, in order to compare directly the thermal condition in different locations along the mill, increase, for some devices, the acquisition frequency in order to have a sufficient number of data according to the project scope, which is a sampling rate able to provide precise information about the temperature trend, apply special filtering procedures in order to remove or at least reduce undesired parts of the signal, such as random noise, to improve the quality of the supplied information, update all the existing collection/reports data according to the new acquisition procedures.

Temperature data management Figure 2.5 shows a comparison between the old acquisition (A) and the new one (B) for the temperature measurement acquired by the pyrometer at the Roughing Mill exit. The sampling rate of the old temperature acquisitions is low and moreover the temperature signals are on time basis; new procedures assure high acquisition frequency and length basis temperature measurements, thus allowing a deep thermal investigation. Data coming from the thermal mapping system based on scanning pyrometer at the entry of active panels are characterised by a high sampling rate and they are related to a length basis; no further action has been necessary on such signal. Figure 2.6 shows an example of the acquisition from this device, where the temperature is measured along three different location (at the centre, operator and drive side). Finally, Figure 2.7 shows a comparison between the old acquisition and the new one for the pyrometer at the finishing mill entry; in this case it has been changed the acquisition base from time to length basis and, moreover, the sampling rate has been increased particularly at the strip head and tail. Special filtering procedures have been implemented by a Fortran code on Alpha machine and have been tuned by an experimental activity carried out for each pyrometer comparing the actual signal with the filter one; that work has been done for different thermal condition and material. Particular recursive digital filter has been used, as IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) filter. The general IIR filter structure is sketched by block diagram representation showed in Figure 2.8 and the input/output relationships is defined as follows:

y (k ) = bn x(k n ) + am y (k m )
n=0 m =1

for

0k K

a b where x(k ) is the input sequence, y (k ) is the output sequence and m , n are the filter coefficients, to be tuned.
Figure 2.9 shows the result of the actual filtering procedures by a comparison between filtered and not filtered temperature signal; peaks due to spurious signals are significantly smoothed when filtering is applied.

24

Old acquisition

New acquisition

Figure 2.5

Temperature measurement at the roughing mill exit before (A) and after (B) the revision of the procedures acquisition

Figure 2.6

Bar temperature measurement at the entry of the active panels by the scanning pyrometer in the centre, drive and operator side

25

Old acquisition
HEAD

New acquisition
TAIL

Figure 2.7

Temperature measurement at the finishing mill entry before (A) and after (B) the revision of the procedures acquisition

Figure 2.8

Block diagram of a generic IIR filter

26

Figure 2.9

Comparison between filtered and not filtered temperature measurements

Pyrometer installation Aiming at to improve the thermal rundown monitoring of the product along the production line two new pyrometers, the first one at Walking Beam furnace entry and the second one at Roughing Mill entry, have been installed. Figure 2.10 presents the updated temperature devices map at the mill. The installation of the new pyrometers has required the following steps: Determination of the best location.

By using thermo vision equipment and portable pyrometer a lot of measures have been taken in different position along the line, between the walking beam furnace and the roughing mill, to find the best location for the new pyrometers to avoid wrong measurements due to the various phenomena (i.e. from descaling water). Arrangement of the necessary mechanical equipments to assemble the new devices and to connect them to the pulpit and the PLC in order to display/acquire the temperature signal. Implementation of the developed procedures for data acquisition and management and evaluation of the reliability of the related temperature measurements.

The above methodology has been also used to check the possibility to slightly move the installed pyrometers in order to improve the precision of the thermal signal (i.e. the pyrometer at the finishing mill exit is affected by steam); unfortunately tests carried out with the pyrometer in different position did not reveal any improvement.

27

(*) scanning pyrometer

RM exit RHF exit Active panels entry (*) FM entry FM exit

Coiler

WB exit

WB entry

RM entry

New installation

Figure 2.10

TKAST HSM plant layout with new distribution (position and type) of the temperature measurement devices

Data base update

Specific activities have been carried out in order to revise the database structure and the existing software has been revised to support the modifications done on the existing data collection, to strengthen all the interface software allowing stable connection avoiding data loss and to assure that the data in the database are properly stored. A lot of comparison between thermal signals acquired through a high sampling rate apparatus and the values in the data base has been made to validate the data base content.

Cold rolling tandem mill

The data acquisition application initially sampled field signals in an analog signal subsystem with a sample rate of 5000 Hz. Further analysis showed that it would be necessary to reduce this sample rate to avoid the huge amount of data stored. Finally it was decided to use a lower sample rate of 2000 Hz. This change in configuration is simple, but it implies discarding all acquired data, as well as feature extractions and models. The application has also a network subsystem to acquire data from the process computer with a sample rate about 1 Hz. A custom network protocol was defined and implemented to accomplish this. A diagram of this application is shown in Figure 2.11.

28

Figure 2.11

Internal structure of the acquisition application

The data acquisition application samples signals from the mill working in two different situations: Rolling: acquisition during rolling. The main quality indicator from the available variables is the delivery strip thicknesses (analog signals) and the signal 0,3% tolerance percentage (process computer variable). The output thickness signals must be preprocessed to obtain more significant quality indicators than their instantaneous values. This preprocessing stage may consist in a mean removal and rms value evaluation (equivalent to standard deviation). Their mean values are also considered significant. Idle run: 500 m/min speed, 250 t. rolling force (each side, 500 total), rolls in direct contact and without strip. This mode will aid in obtaining information about eccentricity and general condition of the rolls and the mill without the influence of the strip being rolled.

Other quality indicators in the available variables for both modes, but specially useful in idle-run due to the absence of thickness quality data, are the ripple in rolling forces, as well as vibrations, analyzed from both time and frequency domain points of view. Information obtained in that way will provide a fingerprint of changed rolls when a back up roll campaign is initiated. During every campaign the tracking of the evolution of rolls will help to extract rules to obtain the best quality in the rolled material. The information displayed in real time by this application during the acquisition is: signals in time domain, spectra (FFT) and several statistics (mean, standard deviation, maximum, minimum). The appearance of the acquisition application is shown in Figure 2.12. The main window displays the spectra of forces (operator side, drive side, and total) and vibration in the selected stand, with labels indicating the characteristic frequencies of the rolls and their multiples, along with the numerical values

29

of their standard deviations and mean, maximum and minimum of their envelopes. In secondary windows all field signals can be displayed both in time and in frequency domain.

Figure 2.12

Main window of the acquisition application with secondary windows

The acquisition application is controlled (started and stopped) by the process computer, both in rolling and in idle-run mode, by means of a custom network protocol over TCP/IP, that, in addition, defines the message formats for roll data, like diameters and identification numbers, and strip data, like material type, target thickness, width, (in the start message), temperatures, foreseen forward slip, roll bending, roll rolled lengths, ... (in a message once per second during rolling). The only difference is that in idle-run mode there is no data related to the strip. The feature extraction techniques have been selected and implemented for being used both in the offline data analysis application and in the on-line application. The field signals are processed in blocks (to achieve high resolution spectra , initially blocks of 16384 samples, corresponding to 3.3 seconds approximately, later changed to 8192 samples, corresponding to 4 seconds approximately when the sample rate changed from 5000 to 2000 Hz), and for each block mean values, rms values, and rms values in frequency bands can be obtained. These so obtained values are synchronized with the process computer variables, which have a different sample rate. This synchronization consists, basically, in a conversion of the values with lower sample rate to the higher sample rate. The method used for this is the repetition of the low-frequency samples. Finally, new variables can be calculated from the synchronized ones using simple algebraic operations like +, -, *, /, <, >, and ==. The acquisition application (and the acquisition computer in general) can be remotely accessed from any computer in Aceralia's network by means of VNC, but it has also offline capabilities for visualization of acquisition data (browsing with a scroll bar) with the proper configuration when installed in different computers of the network.

30

Temper mill
The analysis of the actual state of the temper mill concerning the vibration behaviour has been done. Therefore 37 different signals of the process (thickness, rolling speed, rolling force, bending, tension) and vibration signals of the plant (accelerations) were used (Figure 2.13). To diagnose possible causes of periodic changes of the production system, like roll eccentricities, misalignment of the drive train, defects of bearings, ore teeth frequencies of cogwheels, it is necessary to find out correlations between plant vibrations and these faults. For this reason the database of the plant within the defect frequencies of every part of the mill was built up. First attempts of defect classifications by use of the measured vibrations and the calculated data were successful.

Figure 2.13

Example of the measured data at the rolling mill: rolling speed, accelerations on the top of the stand, at the upper backup roll, and at the gear unit

31

Figure 2.14

Spectrogram of an acceleration signal during speed up, sum of the frequency spectrum (left), and time signal (bottom)

The development of a new fault-diagnosis tool will be done on basis of an automatic analysis of the so called "dynamic fingerprint". Starting point is the measurement of relevant data during speed up of the rolling mill. Advanced diagnosis procedures are needed to separate the natural vibrations of the production system and the fault caused vibrations. After this separation it should be possible to diagnose both the global condition of the mill and defects in the system. First attempts of the speed-up were successful but the database has to be extended. In Figure 2.14 there you can see an example of an analysed vibration signal. It is very clear, that there are defects proportional to rolling speed but also different natural frequencies, e.g. at 700 Hz and 1730 Hz.

TASK 1.4 Assessment of available techniques

First design of databases dedicated to the virtual sensors, performance monitoring and automatic diagnosis systems were assessed according to the different plant/process parameters of the different steel grades taking into account the already defined process and quality indicators.

Hot strip mill

An assessment of the available techniques relevant to the project scope has been carried out concerning the design of database, the filtering and analysis of the various signals, the tools for setting rules dedicated to automatic diagnosis and to manage the alarm event. A list of the techniques/tools have been identified and, on the basis of the careful investigation, those more suitable to the project scope have been selected and used as reported in the following table.

Techniques/Tools Investigated UML (Unified modelling Language) ital sig Database nal design filters RDB (Relational DataBase) OODB (Object Oriented DataBase) IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) X X Used

32

FIR (Finite Impulse Response) IIR 1 and 2 order Fourier transform Automatic diag- Signal nosis analysis Correlation Convolution Fuzzy logic Expert systems Genetic algorithms Neural networks X X X X

Finally, in order to develop an alarm system able to manage the alarm event as general as possible, the ActiveX (Active eXtension) technology has been selected. This technique permits to implement the OPC (Objective-Linking and Embedding for Process Control) Alarm Event specifications and to develop the specific application by a suitable programming language.

Cold rolling tandem mill & Temper mill

Due to the large amount of data involved in this problem and the very fragmented information available about it (partial models, sparse rules, etc.) visual data mining techniques seem the most suitable to solve it. The data analysis application was designed keeping this idea in mind. In the data analysis application, several features can be configured from the field signals (mean values, rms values, rms values in frequency bands, algebraic combinations), which are synchronized with the process computer variables (converted to a common sample rate) during the feature extraction stage. The data obtained in the feature extraction stage can be used to generate a model (dimension reduction based and/or rule based) which can be exploited to estimate the mill condition and aid technicians in decision making in two ways: By visual methods: the representation in 2D of high-dimensional data, rules, analytical models and correlations help technicians to extract new knowledge. By rule based methods: the combination of prior knowledge available in form of rules and new knowledge, also in form of rules obtained automatically from data and validated afterwards by technicians, help them to decide the procedures to carry out for rolling mill performance improvement.

Dimension reduction techniques For the representation in 2D of high-dimensional data, Dimension Reduction Techniques can be used. A method for doing this consists in obtaining a mapping (also called direct mapping or projection function) from the high-dimensional input space (feature space) to the low-dimensional (2D) visualization space. This mapping is generally non-linear and obtained from all data available of the process or, actually in this case, from the results of a feature extraction on acquisition data corresponding to all recorded states of the process, that from here on will be called reference or training data/features. In this way, the visualization space becomes a map of the process, where all the recorded states of the process are represented. Thus, each one of the points of this space may correspond to either a recorded state of the process or an interpolation/extrapolation point between recorded states of the process. An example of this is shown in Figure 2.15. After obtaining the mapping (using SOM, for example) and projecting all the input features used to do it, it is clear that the empty points (without projection on them) of this visualization space, do not correspond to recorded states but to interpolation/extrapolation points.

33

If the inverse mapping is available, that is, the function -1 that establishes a image in the feature space for each point of the visualization space, the image of the visualization space itself in the feature space is a 2D surface (M), as represented schematically in Figure 2.16. Because of the way the direct mapping was obtained, this surface spans the initial reference data (training data) used. When new process data are available, the distance of each new point x to this surface combined with the location of its projection on the visualization space can be used to detect novel states of the process. Long distances mean novel states, but also zero or very short distances combined with projection in interpolation zones mean novel states, since the feasibility of this states as valid process states beforehand can only be presumed. Except for the latter cases, this surface can thus be considered as a process model and, therefore, the mentioned distance as a residual, (shown also in Figure 2.16) an important concept in model-based fault detection.

Figure 2.15 Visualization space as map of the recorded states of the process. The four graphs represent the same process map with different information coded with colors in the background. The represented points correspond to projected feature vectors of the process obtained from recorded data: three coils, identified by three different symbols.

34

Figure 2.16 Input feature space (D) and visualization space (V) showing direct and inverse mappings, with the image M of V in D and, the projection of a feature vector x and its residual using the surface M as a model.
The inverse mapping is also very useful for the representation in the visualization space of any scalar property existing in the feature space, restricted to the 2D surface M, using a code of colors or grey scale as, for instance, values of variables, consequents of rules using variables as inputs, residuals of analytical models, local correlations, and so forth. This is what will be called maps and they are made by representing in each point u of the visualization space the value of f(-1(u)), where f(x) is the value a scalar property in the point x of the input space.

The Self-Organizing Map The Self-Organizing Map has some special characteristics when it is used as a dimension reduction technique for this aim. The visualization space is a bounded rectangular discrete grid or discrete array of points (SOM units in visualization space). Each one of this points has a corresponding point in the input feature space, so there is no 2D surface in the input space like the labelled M in Figure 2.16, but a distribution of points (SOM units in input space). The direct/inverse mapping is just a one-on-one correspondence between SOM units in both spaces. The projection of an input vector is the SOM unit that is closer to it, also called the best matching unit, using generally the Euclidean distance in the input space. Moreover, this distance of an input vector to its best matching unit is what was called residual above. During the SOM training, the SOM units in the input space are arranged in function of the values of the training (reference) data. They are distributed more densely where the density of training data is higher. Taking this latter property into account, we can represent in the visualization space for each SOM unit, the mean distance measured in input space of its neighbour SOM units in visualization space. That is called distance map or distance matrix or u-matrix and it is useful to point out the existence of data clusters in input space, that in our problem can be related to process conditions. We will call condition to a set of states labelled using the same name, which generally will correspond to regions or zones in the visualization space.

TASK 1.5 Advanced algorithms for data analysis and visualisation

The off-line analysis application is already able to perform a feature extraction and display the results in several kinds of graphs. The feature extraction is carried out after selecting the source coils and the configuration of the feature extraction. In this configuration the user can select the values to obtain from each field signal (mean, rms, rms in frequency bands by specifying center frequencies and bandwidths), and the process computer variables to include.

35

The results of feature extractions are stored in the database, together with acquisition data and model data. This result can be considered as a matrix of variables as rows and samples as columns that can be displayed in different kinds of graphs. In these graphs, variables, coils and groups of samples can be selected for removal (i.e., rows or columns of the matrix), and the resulting matrix can be subsequently saved as a new feature extraction. Among other capabilities of these graphs, individual samples can be selected in one of them to be automatically identified in the rest of open graphs. Also, new variables can be created afterwards (rows of the matrix) as combinations of the existing ones, using algebraic expressions with operators like +, -, *, /, <, >, and ==. A diagram of this application is shown in Figure 2.17 and a screenshot in Figure 2.18.

Figure 2.17

Diagram of the data analysis application.

In every graph, the source coil of each data point can be identified by a different colour and/or symbol, and in the time graph also the variables. All those properties can be configured. In the time graph the variables using the same units are grouped in separate vertical axis, but each individual variable can be selected to be represented in a new vertical axis (Figure 2.19). In scatter plots, the variables in the axes can be selected, but in the PCA graph at the moment only the two most important principal components are used. In the off-line analysis application the Self-Organizing Map is used as a visual data mining tool, not as a model. The two basic SOM graphic representations are the component planes and the distance map. Each one show the visualization space, which in this case has to be interpreted as a map of the process states recorded in the dataset under analysis, and display their own information: Component planes: they display the projections of the points in the dataset (though they can be hidden) and the value of the variable/feature corresponding to the SOM unit in input space coded with color as background, therefore pointing out its value for every point of the SOM model. Therefore, the f(x) mentioned in the previous section is the value of a component or coordinate of x=(x1, ..., xn), that is, a process feature and, therefore, there are as many component planes as input features. Distance map: it displays in the visualization space for each SOM unit the mean distance, measured in the input feature space, of its neighbour units (neighbours as seen in the visualization space itself). It supplies visual information about the clusters in the data set under analysis, like its number, sizes (number of data), distances between them. The clusters in the data set can be considered as different conditions of the process and therefore those parameters are related to the number of different conditions in the data set, the number of data for each condition and a measure of the similarity between conditions, respectively.

36

Main window of the data analysis application, showing a distance map (up left), six component planes with the projections of data corresponding to several coils (right), a scatter plot (middle left) and a time graph with a cursor to display numerical values of the variables in the table in its left.

Figure 2.18

Figure 2.19 Time graph with variables grouped by units. In the selected mode the colors identify the variables. In addition the topmost variable has been selected to be represented in a separate vertical axis and shows up the different source coils with different symbols.

37

Other kinds of maps may be added the future: Maps of analytical models: the f(x) is taken from a partial model of the process with the form f(x)=0. In the points x of the process feature space where that model does not hold, we get a residual =f(x). This map indicates where the analytical model and the SOM model match, supplying information especially useful for the identification of the process conditions in the visualization space. Maps of local correlations: a local version of the correlations between input variables can be obtained by weighting each input point in an inverse proportion to the distance to the point where the correlation is calculated. These maps provide information on correlations between variables for different states or conditions of the process. Thus, when a target variable have to be estimated (in this case a quality indicator) they provide a means of determining what variables or features should be included in a model to estimate it and in which conditions they have influence. Maps of rules: the f(x) is the consequent of a rule or a combination of rules, crisp or fuzzy. Also useful for the identification of the process conditions in the visualization space when they can be specified beforehand as a set of rules obtained from experience.

New offline visualization possibilities For the diagnosis system new offline visualization and analysis tools have been developed (see Figure 2.20). All defect frequencies can be chosen from a list. With the parameters of the shown coil, the defect frequencies are plotted inclusive bandwidth, warn and alarm threshold. By positioning the curser in the coil, automatically the corresponding strip speed is read and the defect frequency is recalculated/plotted (the defect frequencies of the rotating components depends on the speed). In the example in Figure 2.20 the cursor is at the coil position of 4100m. In Figure 2.21 the zoomed single FFT with the defect frequencies of the gear box is shown. Furthermore the results of the diagnosis system are stored over the coil length (see Figure 2.22 and Figure 2.20)

38

Figure 2.20

Offline visualization of defect frequencies

Figure 2.21

Offline analysis of defect frequencies: zoomed frequency spectrum of gear box frequencies

Component

Coil length [m]

Component nr.

Figure 2.22

Visualisation of diagnosis results over coil length

39

2.5 WP 2 Development of Soft-Sensor based Monitoring and Diagnosis Systems

The aim was to establish virtual sensors in particular using state observer design methods and models available to calculate key variables online based on collected system input and output signals. Based on this, advanced methods and algorithms for soft sensing, quality/process monitoring and fault diagnosis are under developing. Particularly, automatic procedures to determine and adapt essential parameters and diagnosis methods to detect automatically incoming defects, sub-systems and components responsible for quality faults, are taken into account as well as a trend monitoring and defect prognosis.

TASK 2.1 Virtual thermal sensor based diagnosis

The activities related to this work package have finalised to the development of a virtual sensor (Virtual Global Thermal Indicator) that, on the basis of precise relationships between temperature rundown of the slab/bar/strip and rolling process stability, permits to support operators providing both intelligent information about thermal characteristics of the slab/bar/strip and guidelines to manage the process. An activity to associate the thermal rundown of the slab/bar/strip to the rolling stability problems (bar/strip steering, cobbles, dimensional inconsistencies, ...) has been carried out aiming at an assessment of precise rules to diagnose rolling instabilities as a function of the thermal state of the product. The results of this activity can be summarised as follows: a) The updated procedures to acquire, elaborate and store the thermal measurements have been applied to all devices available along the production line; the revise temperature measurements, coming from each hot strip mill area (see Figure 2.23), have been analysed in order to identify a group of key variables (Thermal Indicators) able to characterize the thermal state of the product, under rolling or just rolled, in a short way. Table 2.9 Description of the relevant Thermal Indicators
Description Average temperature along the slab/bar/strip Temperature difference between average temperature on head (Thead) and on tail (Ttail) of slab/bar/strip IT2 Delta Testa-Coda THead is the average temperature before first skid marks TTail is the average temperature after last skid marks

Thermal indicators IT1 Temperatura Media

Figure 2.24 shows an example of head and tail temperature elaboration for the temperature measurement at the finishing mill entry Maximum value of all temperature difference measured on the Skid mark area Figure 2.25 shows an example of temperature measurement at the finishing mill entry in which are highlighted 8 skid marks; Skid indicators provides the maximum value of all temperature difference measured on the 8 skid marks area The number and position of the skid marks depend on the slab length and on the walking beam configuration IT4 IT5 Sbilanciamento Trasversale Gradiente Skid Maximum value of all temperature difference between drive side and operator side on the bar First derivate of the thermal indicator Skid (IT3)

IT3

Skid

40

This indicator identifies the slope of the temperature variation This indicator evaluates how much different is the behaviour of the signal temperature i from the previous one i-1 (referred to last rolled product), it is calculated by the following formula:

min (avr (abs ( y (t ) y1 (t + T ))))

IT6 Correlazione

0 T abs (length( y ) length( y1 ))

Comparison is only performed between same steel grade and production route (conventional or thin slab production)

for

A Visual Basic Macro has been developed to test off-line all the identified key variables on a sufficient amount of data. This permits, according to the theoretical knowledge and the specific experience on the TKAST HSM, to identify 6 thermal indicators, relevant to the project, as reported on Table 2.9. Finally, specific software to calculate, for each pyrometer, the thermal indicator values and to load the information on the technical Data Base has been designed and developed. b) Assessment of precise rules providing thermal state classification for each thermal indicator. Extensive investigation (more than 1 year of rolled strips) of the rolling instabilities due to thermal inconsistencies permits to set 4 limit values (Lim+, Lim-, Lim1 and Lim2) for each thermal indicator. The defined limit values are function of: Measurement position along the production line, Steel grade, Slab production line (thin or traditional), Strip width.

According to the rules reported on Table 2.10 5 areas, which represent different thermal states (equivalent thermal state), have been defined. More precisely, the above limits represent the transition value between the defined thermal states, as: Lim+: transition value between the equivalent thermal state Excellent and Good, Lim1: transition value between the thermal state Good and Attention, Lim2: transition value between the thermal state Attention and Dangerous, Lim-: transition value between the thermal state Dangerous and Terrible.

It has to be specified that the above limits have been identified for assuring rolling stability and they do not take into account other constrains for quality requirements (i.e. a high temperature make easier the rolling process but could generate surface problems). Figure 2.26 shows a graphical example of the limit values representation concerning the elaboration of the thermal indicator Temperatura Media (IT1). Each red point represents the thermal indicator value of a slab/bar/strip, referred to a selected rolling schedule, while the continuous coloured line (green, blue, black and red) are the respective limit value. The position of the thermal indicator with respect to the limits identifies the equivalent thermal state.

41

Figure 2.23

Temperature measurements along the production line revised according to the project scope

Table 2.10 Rules to associate the Equivalent thermal states to the defined limit values for each thermal indicator
]66 99[ ]33 66] ]0 33] Dangerous

99

Normalised value

Excellent

Attention

Equivalent Thermal State

42

Terrible

Good

Thermal Indicator Temperatura media (**) IT1 IT1Lim+ IT2Lim+ Lim+<IT2<Lim1 Lim1IT2<Lim2 Lim2IT2<LimIT2LimLim1IT3<Lim2 Lim2IT3<LimIT3LimLim+<IT3<Lim1 IT3Lim+ Lim1<IT1<Lim + Lim2<IT1Lim 1 Lim-<IT1Lim2 IT1LimIT2 IT3 IT4 IT4Lim+ Lim+<IT4<Lim1 Lim1IT4<Lim2 Lim2IT4<LimIT4Lim(*) (**) Testa-Coda trasversale Skid Delta Sbilanciamento Gradiente Skid (*) IT5 IT5Lim+ Lim+<IT5<Lim1 Lim1IT5<Lim2 Lim2IT5<LimIT5Lim-

Correlazione

Real value of each thermal indicator

ITi = Lim+ ITi = Lim1 ITi = Lim2

(*) IT6 IT6Lim+ Lim+<IT6<Lim1 Lim1IT6<Lim2 Lim2IT6<LimIT6Lim-

(*) Values 0 (**) Positive/negative values with respect to 0

c) Normalization of the actual value of each Thermal Indicator in the range [0 99], in this way each limit value, different for each thermal indicator, identifies a precise normalised value according to the following rules:

Normalised value of each thermal indicator

43

99 66 33

ITi = Lim-

and, moreover, each equivalent thermal state identifies a normalised variation range that is the same for each thermal indicator as reported on Table 2.10. d) Assessment of the contribution of each thermal indicators to the rolling instabilities through the investigation of a large amount of the historical data (rolling instabilities directly linked to the thermal inconsistencies). The interaction among the thermal indicators and the rolling stability cannot be represented by a mathematical function; empirical rules have been detected on the basis of a relevant amount of the historical data. e) The a) b) c) and d) steps permitted to design and develop a software code to calculate the virtual thermal sensor, called Virtual Global Thermal Indicator (ITVG), to relate thermal rundown and process stability. The ITVG algorithm provides a value variable in the range [0 100], according to the following description: ITVG = constant*(A*IT1+B*IT2+C*IT3+D*IT4+E*IT5) where the coefficients (AE) depend on the rules reported in

44

Annex 1.

Figure 2.24

Head and Tail average temperature elaboration

Figure 2.25

Example of Skid indicator elaboration

45

Figure 2.26

Limit values for the thermal indicator Temperature Media (IT1)

TASK 2.2 Mill-status and Thickness-quality soft-sensing and monitoring

The main utility of the off-line data analysis tool is obtaining a feature extraction with a set of data containing all significant available (recorded) states of the rolling mill. This feature extraction can be used in the model manager application to generate a dimension reduction model which can be used in the on-line application to monitor the condition of the rolling mill. It can be also used to obtain new rules (in addition to those previously available from the experience of the technicians) which can be used for early detection of future faults, to diagnose problems and, more specifically, to deduce how to achieve transitions of the mill from one condition, generally when the product does not meet customers' requirements or simply when producing sub-optimally, to another condition, generally optimal or just within requirements. The basic principle consists in revealing the differences between similar mill conditions, when some of them are considered bad and the others are considered good. That can be performed either using dimension reduction models or rule bases. The final aim is to help maintenance and production staff, providing them with corrective actions to take the mill back to the best conditions. Those capabilities will be present in the on-line application, which will show the condition of the mill, and in the model manager application, which will be used to analyse the transitions between mill conditions. Regarding the idle-run mode monitoring capabilities of the on-line application, they are already implemented and used. The on-line application is currently being used to assess when incoming rolls of the mill are under specifications or not. And, in general, this tool is becoming important when trouble arise and an investigation about the causes is needed. Initial analyses of mill data during rolling were carried out focused on relating rolling forces (mainly the rms value of their ripple) to quality (given by the process computer as the percentage of rolled material within 0,3% thickness tolerance or by the standard deviation of the output thickness signals from the X-ray gauges). The gathering of data covering all the significant conditions of the mill possible was also one of the first aims. Next, the capabilities for on-line monitoring using SOM were implemented. Then it is possible to train a SOM model in the model manager, to store it in the database and to load it in the on-line acquisition application. The model includes the configuration needed to carry out the feature extraction, thus obtaining at any moment during acquisition a instantaneous feature vector. This feature vector is shown in real time as a projection in the visualization space (Figure 2.27). It is usually represented with the distance map, which shows up the bounds between the different conditions of the mill. These conditions are, of course, just recorded conditions, so it is also necessary the on-line graphical representation of the residuals, which points out when a novel condition of the mill occurs.

46

In the model manager application (diagram in Figure 2.28, main window in Figure 2.29), a semiautomatic obtaining of mill conditions based on the distance map has been implemented, along with a management system for rules relating transitions between states. First, a threshold between the maximum and the minimum distances existing in the distance map must be selected. This threshold is used to differentiate high distances from low distances in that map. Then, an algorithm is run in the map, which assigns the same condition to states (points) connected through low distances. Each newly created condition is given a name that can be changed later. After that, we can add new rules (or show the previously added ones) associated to each transition by selecting its initial and final conditions. These rules are grouped in two sets for each transition: validated and non-validated. Each rule obtained automatically from data begins in the group of non-validated rules. The rules obtained from experience can be created in that group or directly in the validated group. The mill technicians can decide when a rule makes sense and transfer it from the non-validated group to the validated group. Also, a count of how many times a rule has been successfully used to achieve the associated transition of condition in the mill is kept, along with the derived percentage of success. In Figure 2.30, it is shown a map of conditions of the rolling mill, each one with a different colour and labelled. A transition between two conditions, marked with an arrow, has been selected. Some example rules associated to that transition are shown in a secondary window.

Figure 2.27 On-line SOM model. The magenta spot in the upper right corner is the projection of the instantaneous feature vector. As background is the distance map, which shows 8 large conditions. The size of the regions is proportional to the number of samples for the corresponding condition in the training set.

47

Figure 2.28

Diagram of the model manager application

Figure 2.29 Model Manager application main window, showing several component planes, a thresholded distance map (blue=conditions/low-distances and red=boundaries/high-distances) with its slider to select interactively the value of the threshold (top left corner) and a regular distance map (under it)

48

Figure 2.30

Model Manager showing a map of mill conditions, a transition between two conditions and the associated (example) rules

SOM correlation maps

During the analysis, the addition of the correlation maps to the data analysis application was considered important and carried out. The correlarion maps are a local version of the correlations between input variables that can be obtained by weighting each input point in an inverse proportion to the distance to the point where the correlation is calculated. These maps provide information on correlations between variables for different states or conditions of the process. Thus, when a target variable have to be estimated (in this case a quality indicator) they provide a means of determining what variables or features should be included in a model to estimate it and in which conditions they have influence. Correlation maps are able to show local correlations of the process. In other words, they can show when the process has a different behavior regarding correlations (linear dependencies) between its variables in different states (for instance, positive correlation for a set of states and zero correlation for another set of states for the same two variables). Therefore this tool is very useful for nonlinear processes.

Initial model generation

To allow the detection of the state of rolls and its influence in the thickness quality, the algorithm for the calculation of rms values in frequency bands with variable centre frequency was added to the other feature extraction algorithms. The centre frequencies can be chosen among all roll characteristic frequencies and their multiples (not necessarily integer). For the initial analysis aimed at the creation of a simple first model, some simplifications are assumed: data from stand 5 (and maybe some from stand 4, like speed), coils of only one material type, coils of one target input and output thickness,

49

coils of one single width (or a narrow width range).

Also, for the initial analysis the dimensions of the SOM are chosen initially to be only 50x50 units and only data from a few coils (44) used, to avoid long calculation times every time a new variable is added or discarded (the SOM is trained again) and when a correlation map is opened. In subsequent analysis and final model, a larger map and a higher number of coils will be used. The initial variables selected were: Rolling force (sum of operator and drive side): standard deviation, mean value, and rms values (2 Hz bandwidth) at the first and second harmonics of the characteristic frequencies of the bottom rolls, work and backup (top roll's frequencies are almost the same). It carries information about the state of the rolls. Vibration (accelerometer): rms value. Depending on the type of vibration, it may have an important influence in thickness (third octave chatter, for instance). Roll bending force. Temperature of the direct application emulsion. This and the other temperatures are included to check their influence on the strip thickness. Temperature of the strip. Temperature of water. Speed of stands 4 and 5. With these speeds, an estimation of the instantaneous strip thickness reduction can be calculated as r=1-v4/v5. Tension 4-5: standard deviation and mean value. The strip tension, in both input and output side of a stand, has a very important influence in the strip output thickness. Output strip thickness: standard deviation, mean value, rms overall value and rms values (2 Hz bandwidth) at the first and second harmonics of the characteristic frequencies of the bottom rolls. The source of information about the quality of the strip. The data analysis started with a test of consistency of local and overall quality indicators: most part of coils with high overall quality lie in zones of the state map with low rms value of thickness (Figure 2.31).

50

Figure 2.31 Consistency of local and overall quality indicators: map of the thickness rms value (gauge 5-2), generated from 44 coils, only those with a C%03 >= 75% shown. The arrow points out the region corresponding to the coil with the best quality of the set (86%).
The analog signals obtained from the two X-ray gauges of the stand 5 (5-1, 5-2) can be considered as local thickness quality indicator of a coil (especially gauge 5-2, because is the one used for thickness control). They provide the relative output thickness deviation with respect to the target delivery thickness (in percentage). The process computer variable C%03 is an overall thickness quality indicator of a coil. It is the percentage of samples in the coil of the X-ray thickness signal within the range 0.3% of target delivery thickness. From rolling theory, it is known that some of the main variables influencing thickness are rolling forces and strip tensions. Other important available variables, as those related to frictions and hardness of strip material (direct application and temperature variables), will be analyzed later. The correlation between standard deviations of rolling force and thickness was not found in this stand 5 as clearly as expected, probably due to the gauge control system, but to some extent high values of one seem to correspond often with high values of the other (Figure 2.32).

51

Figure 2.32 Standard deviation of rolling force vs. standard deviation of thickness: scatterplot (left top), correlation map (left bottom), thickness s.d. component plane (rigth top) andforce s.d. component plane (right bottom). Only the projections corresponding to lower quality coils are shown.

It can be observed in the correlation map that for a large number of states the correlation between the standard deviations of force and thickness is at least slightly positive (yellow), and more strongly positive (orange) for a few of them. However, a clear positive correlation between standard deviations of tension 4-5 and thickness has been found (Figure 2.33). This can be considered a logical result because the gauge is controlled through that tension 4-5, that in turn is modified by actuation on the stand-5 speed.

52

Figure 2.33 Standard deviation of strip tension vs. standard deviation of thickness: scatter plot (left top), correlation map (left bottom), thickness s.d. component plane (rigth top) and tension s.d. component plane (right bottom). Only the projections corresponding to higher quality coils are shown. The arrow points out the coil with the highest quality (86%). It can be observed also how correlation map show uniform correlation when the correlation is overall: the dependency between the variables is quite linear. Also it has been verified that the state of the rolls, regarding lack of roundness, appears as harmonics in rolling forces (multiples of roll characteristic frequencies): one analysis task is to look for these frequencies in other variables, especially thickness, to check in what amount these frequencies are influencing thickness quality or whether they are cancelled out by the gauge control system. In a first analysis, corresponding to Figure 2.34 where correlation maps are shown, some correlations have been found. Correlation maps are the best tool to analyze this phenomenon, since only conditions (coils) with defective rolls are expected to show these correlations more strongly.

53

Figure 2.34 Correlations between rms values in frequency bands of rolling force and thickness (first and second harmonic of characteristic frequencies of rolls). Red is full positive correlation, blue is full negative correlation and green is zero correlation. Only the projections of higher quality coils are shown. Some other results were under analysis, like relationships between high speeds and low quality, or between high standard deviation of the thickness reduction estimated fromspeeds and low quality, or the influence of the roll bending force. Clear relationships between vibrations and thickness had not been found, probably because only rms values were being used. Precise frequency analysis were not possible with vibration signals at that moment since the analyses carried out showed a low quality of those signals.

TASK 2.3 Chatter observer and chatter compensation system

As chatter effects on the strip quality cannot be easily detected when the thickness variation produced is very small and the effect is given essentially in terms of chatter marks, the aim is to develop a model based chatter observer. Chatter marks are periodic stripes on the rolls. Depending on the kind of equipment construction and process conditions the distance between these parallel marks w various from about 5 mm up to 100 mm (Figure 2.35). The amplitudes a can take values of "not measurable" up to 1020 m. So the marks can be really waves on the roller surface or only variations in roughness and reflection behaviour (Figure 2.36).

54

Figure 2.35

Schematic representation of chatter marks on a roll

w 2a

Figure 2.36

Chatter marks on the roller surface, left: periodic form deviation, right: periodic roughness variation

If the marks e.g. on the backup rolls achieved certain degree, they become visible as light-darkly shades and usually audible as "whistle". With growing amplitudes the danger of the transmission the marks over the working roll on the strip surface increases. Figure 2.37 clarifies this mechanism, whereby the wavelength on the strip is larger due to the forming than on the rolls. Chatter marks on rolls affect thus negatively on the product quality and/or the productivity. Moreover these chatter marks increase the maintenance cost by the additional changes of the rolls.

55

wroll wstrip

Figure 2.37

Effects of backup rolls with chatter marks on the strip

Causes of chatter marks In principle there exist two different mechanisms for chatter mark formation: a) b) development within the roll stand, i.e. during the rolling process, development outside of the roll stand, i.e. when grinding the rolls.

In this project BFI takes the generation during the rolling process into account. The dynamic behaviour of the plant, in particular the vibration of the rolls, is responsible for the chatter mark formation. These special oscillations depend on the plant (self-dynamics, condition of the construction units...), on the process (rolling speed, rolling forces, strip strains, lubrication...), and depend on the product (strip material, dimensions, reduction per pass, hardness...). Under certain conditions, e.g. the relation from rolling speed to frequency of vibration, these oscillations lead to the described changes on the roller surfaces. Due to the usually softer back-up rolls as well as in relation to their higher roughness the working rolls, form chatter marks usually more strongly on the back-up rolls out. Since this development of the transverse impacts is made by a longer period, errors on the working rolls are hardly noticed in addition. Reduction of chatter marks on a two stand temper mill Chatter mark development in the two stand mill Typical chatter marks formed in the two stand temper mill shows the photo in Figure 2.38. The distance between the marks are of about 18.5 mm, and constant over the hole circumference of the roll. The reason are vibrations in the eigen-mode, where the backup roll is moving in the eigen-frequency against the work roll, illustrated in Figure 2.39. The examination of measured vibration signals was made by spectrumanalysis (see also chapter 2.5 dynamic fingerprint). Figure 2.40 shows the spectrogram of an acceleration signal during speed up. A critical natural mode with a frequency of 1720 Hz, and with very low damping is visible in the accumulated spectrum as well as in the area diagram. At a rolling speed of about 1900 m/min this mode induces the marks on the backup rolls with 18.5 mm wavelength.

56

Figure 2.38

Chatter marks on a backup roll with wavelength of about 18.5 mm

Figure 2.39

Schema of the chatter inducing natural-mode of the roll set

Figure 2.40

Spectrum-analysis of the mill vibration

57

Chatter observer and reduction system for the two stand temper mill The main idea of the observer / chatter reduction system is to avoid the vibration under constant conditions that will cause the chatter marks. It is essential to vary the rolling speed in a well-defined manner, even if the speed should be constant e.g. for several coils of the same standard product. Precondition is the knowledge of the critical eigen-frequency, that changes depended on the roll set, on the strip, but also on the process parameters. Basis is a model of the mill, that must be updated by measurement analysis. On the basis of this model BFI developed a procedure, that gives, in reference to the actual process signals and the product characteristics, a diagnosis of the current plant behaviour, a prognosis concerning possible chatter marks and a decision for the following rolling programme. The results of this algorithm can be made visible for the plant driver, be affected manually then the process, or be used however for an automatic optimisation of the process (Figure 2.41). In the simplest case the attitude of an optimum rolling speed can be sufficient for a reduction of backup roll chatter marks.

manually: optimum roll parameters

control stand

onlinevisualisation

product process plant

automatically: optimum roll parameters signals of quality, plant, process

central unit

data acquisition monitoring diagnosis prediction decisions

knowledge models

Figure 2.41

Schema of the chatter observer for the two stand mill

The general relation between the chatter mark wavelength (see Figure 2.35), the frequency and the rolling speed is: frequency (t) * wavelength (t) = speed (t) If the frequency is a natural frequency, it is constant for the rolling process and not speed-depended: eigen-frequency (constant) * wavelength (t) = speed (t). If one operates the plant frequently with the same maximum speed, the equation results in: eigen-frequency (constant) * wavelength (t) = speed (constant). For the wavelength one gets in this case: wavelength (constant) = speed (constant) / eigen-frequency (constant). The developing wavelength on the rolls and/or the strip is thus likewise constant. This process will also strengthens, since the developing waves increases to larger amplitudes especially in the natural frequency, which lets these waves develop again faster. This stamping the waves can be reduced by a slight variation of the maximum speed, because with changed rolling speed (natural frequency is constant) another error wavelength arises. wavelength (t) = maximum speed (constant)+offset (t) / eigen-frequency (constant). The waves have now a wavelength dependent on the time. If the wavelength changes frequently enough, the marks "smear themselves". Thus only in the many smaller measure even waves on the roller and/or the work material result.

58

So the quintessential point for the successful reduction of transverse impacts is the suitable variation of the maximum speed. The change of the speed can take place continuously (several times during the rolling of a coil) or from coil to coil. The best results were obtained by use of model-based procedures, and it is particularly helpful to avoid rolling speeds, that increase the risk to excite the critical eigen-frequency. The application of the observer rules to intervention into the rolling process, has to start before the rising of chatter marks, i.e. before visible or audible effects occur. By use of the chatter observer / reduction system the damage of the rolling process is reduced clearly, which leads to increased quality, to smaller maintenance cost, since a roller change is more rarely necessary, and at least to higher productivity.

TASK 2.4 Control performance diagnosis

Aim of the project is to developed a control-performance assessment and adjustment tools to enable early warnings regarding to under-performing control loops, based on data acquired under normal plant production conditions without any additional excitations. The effect of malfunctions in process-control loops, including sensors and actuators, is to introduce excess variation throughout the process thereby reducing mill operability, increasing costs and disrupting final product quality. Consequently, prompt recognition and correction of process-control malfunctions offers a means of reducing variation and improving uniformity. The main objective of control performance monitoring/assessment (CPM/CPA) is to provide an online automated procedure that delivers information to plant personnel for determining whether specified performance targets and response characteristics are being met by the controlled process variables and that evaluates the performance of the control system. The term monitoring means the action of watching out for changes in a statistic that reflects the control performance over time. The term assessment refers to the action of evaluating a statistic that reflects control performance at a certain point in time. Within this task, CPM methods and diagnosis tools have been developed to enable early warnings regarding to under-performing control loops, based on data acquired under normal plant production conditions without any additional excitations.

Basic principle of CPM CPA techniques ponder questions such as (see Figure 2.42): is the controller healthy? Is it doing its job satisfactorily? If not, why is it in poor health? How can one arrange for a performance benchmark to figure out the improvement potential without disturbing the running system?

Figure 2.42

Simplistic statement of control performance assessment problems

Sources of poor control performance in industrial processes

59

Poor control performance in rolling processes can be caused by one or more of the following effects: Inadequate controller tuning and lack of maintenance. This may be due to the fact that the controller has been tuned based on a poor model, or even an inappropriate controller type has been used. The most common cause of poor control performance is, however, that controllers are normally designed and tuned at the commissioning stage, but left unchanged after that for years (or decades), although the performance of many control loops decays over time owing to changes in the characteristics of the material/product being used; modifications of operating points/ranges; changes in the status of the plant equipment (wear, plant modifications). The commissioning engineers tune the controllers until they are considered good enough. They do not have time to optimise the control. Most controllers are tuned once they are installed, and then never again. Often, the controllers are conservatively tuned (i.e., for the worst case) to retain stability when operating conditions change in non-linear systems. This leads to sluggish controller behaviour. There are only a few people responsible for maintenance of automation systems and all are fully busy with keeping the control systems in operation, i.e., they have no or very little time for improving controllers. Typically a remarkable number of controllers have to be maintained by a very small number of control engineers. Operators and engineers often do not have the necessary education and understanding of process control to be able to know what can be expected of the control or what the causes of poor performance are. Sometimes, the poor control performance becomes the norm and production people accept it as normal ("It has always been like this). Various studies indicate that the half-life of good control loop performance is about six months.

The main reasons quoted for lack of tuning and maintenance are:

Equipment malfunction or poor design. Poor control performance may be the result of failing or malfunctioning sensors or actuators (e.g., due to excessive friction or stiction). More serious is the problem when the process or a process component is not appropriately designed. Poor or missing feedforward compensation. If not properly addressed, external disturbances may deteriorate the control performance. Thus, when disturbances are measured, it is strongly recommended to compensate for them by means of feedforward control (FFC) actions. Inappropriate control structure. Inadequate input/output pairing, ignoring mutual interactions between the system variables, competing controllers, insufficient degrees of freedom, the presence of strong non-linearities and the lack of time-delay compensation in the system are frequently found as sources for control structure problems.

Basic assessment procedure A comprehensive approach for CPA should include the following main stages (see Figure 2.43): 1. Determination of the capability of the running control system. This involves quantification of the current performance. Measured (dynamic) data is analysed and used to compute the performance figures (e.g., the output variances) of the current control system. Selection and design of a benchmark for performance assessment. This step specifies the benchmark, against which the current control performance will be evaluated. This may be the minimum variance (as an upper but often not achievable performance bound) or any other userspecified criterion, which defines the desired or best possible performance given the existing plant and control equipment. Assessment and detection of poor performing loops. This stage tests the deviation of the current control performance from the selected benchmark. Moreover, one can determine the improvement possible by enhancing the control performance from the current one to that of the benchmark. Only

2.

3.

60

those control loops, which are not adequately performing and offer potential benefit, are thus considered in the subsequent diagnostic steps. 4. Diagnosis of the underlying causes. When the analysis indicates that the performance of a running controller deviates from good/desired performance, the reasons for this should be located. The diagnostic step is the most difficult task of CPA, where only a few approaches and studies are available. Suggestion of improvement measures. After isolating the causes of poor performance, corrective actions should be taken to restore the heath of the control system. In most cases, poor working controllers can be improved by retuning, i.e., adjusting their parameter settings. When the assessment procedure indicates that the desired control performance is not possible with the current process and control structure, more substantial modifications to improve the control system performance are required.

5.

Computation of current controller performance

u

Control loop to be assessed u

Model/parameter identification

Constraints

Design of ideal/optimal controller (Benchmark)

Comparison/ Diagnosis/ Decision

Control Retuning
Control Redesign
Plant Redesign

Figure 2.43

Basic procedure for control performance assessment/monitoring and diagnosis

Methods and metrics for evaluating the level of control performance

The performance of a control system relates to its ability to deal with the deviations between controlled variables and their set points (or desired/reference values). These deviations can be quantified by a single number, the performance index (indicator/potential/metric); see Jelali (1996) for a recent overview of CPM technology and applications. The most widespread criterion considered for CPA is the variance (or, equivalently, the standard deviation), particularly for regulatory control. The performance of a control

61

loop might be deemed unacceptable if the variance of the controlled variable exceeds some critical values, because of its direct relationship to process performance, product quality and profit. The control performance indices (CPIs) should be scaled to lie within [0, 1], where values close to 1 mean better/tighter control:

J des J act

where Jdes is any ideal, optimal or desired/expected value for a given performance criterion (typically the variance), and Jact the actual value extracted from measured data. The celebrated minimum-variancebased performance index has been suggested by Harris (1989), and thus is also referred to as the Harris index. The key point is that the MV benchmark (as a reference performance bound) can be estimated from routine operating data without additional experiments, provided the system delay t is known (or can be estimated with sufficient accuracy):

Harris

2 f2 MV i =0 i = 2 = 2 y fi

i =0

To calculate the index, the coefficients fi of the impulse response from noise-to-output transfer function has to be estimated, e.g., using an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model. The concept of MV benchmarking can also be applied to FBC/FFC loops; see Desborough and Harris (1993). The analysis of variance highlights the contribution of various disturbances to the overall variance:
2 2 2 2 2 2 y = MV, v + FB,v + j =1 ( MV, w + FF, w + FB/FF, w ) , where nw
j j j

2 MV, v 2 FB, v

: the minimum variance of the FBC (arising from unmeasured disturbance v) : the minimum variance due to the non-optimality of the FBC
2 MV, w 2 MV, w
j

nw j =1 nw j =1 nw j =1

: the minimum variance of the FFC (coming from nw measured disturbances wi) : the minimum variance due to the non-optimality of the FFC
j

2 FB/FF, w : the minimum variance due to the non-optimality of the combination FBC/FFC.

The analysis of variance particularly helps in quantifying the benefit of implementing FFC, or when already implemented how well the FFC is performing. A detailed procedure to estimate the different variance components from operating data can be found in the paper by Desborough and Harris (1993). Also Baart (2004) re-derived this algorithm, and implemented it in MATLAB, including the application to the performance assessment of strip-thickness control in a rolling mill. It is important to note that the adoption of MVC as a benchmark does not imply that it should be the goal towards which the existing control should be driven, or that it is always practical, desirable, or even possible to implement. Nevertheless, the MVC sets a performance bound for all other (linear) controllers in terms of the output variance. Hence, it serves as an appropriate benchmark against which the performance of other controllers may be compared. Methods and metrics for detecting specific malfunctions There are many reasons for poor control performance, such as (i) limitations on achievable performance arising due to a combination of system and controller design, (ii) changes in system dynamics, (iii) varying disturbances, (iv) sensor or actuator faults, (v) system non-linearity, and (vi) unknown sources. Some of these problems can be detected using specialised methods and indices. The most important of these are non-linearity detection tests, oscillation indices, and the idle index (to detect sluggish control loops).

62

Methods for improving the control performance The final and most challenging objective of applying CPA methods and indices should always be to suggest measures to improve the control or process/plant performance. This topic is briefly described in the following: Inspection and maintenance. When problems or malfunctions relating to operation of the instruments or process/plant components (sensors, actuators, etc.) have been detected, inspection and maintenance work is essential, e.g., repairing valves or sensors. When, for instance, loops are identified to have an oscillation problem probably caused by a sticking valve, additional (stiction and hysteresis) tests on the valve should be carried out to pinpoint and verify the root cause. Loop retuning. Loop tuning normally refers to the parameter selection of a fixed-order controller such as a PID. Loop tuning is a classical topic of control theory, and thus will not be discussed here in detail. Instead, the reader is referred to standard textbooks, e.g., strm and Hgglund (1995), and Seborg et al. (2004). Model-based tuning methods (particularly Dahlins method or l-tuning, IMC: internal model control, IMC-based PID-tuning) are highly recommended because they provide considerable insight and usually have one (or no) adjustable parameter(s). However, the type of tuning method to be selected depends on the specific control objective (set-point tracking, disturbance rejection, or both). Controller redesign. To enhance process control beyond the commonly implemented PID controllers, the introduction of specialised/advanced strategies, such as anti-windup, FFC, cascade control, time- delay compensation (Smith-predictor control, IMC, MPC: model predictive control), gain-scheduling, or adaptive control, can be necessary. In the authors experience, most control performance problems in the metal processing industry are due to the lack of appropriate time-delay compensation, and/or missing consideration of interactions in multivariate systems. Therefore, the use of IMC/MPC in metal-processing control is propagated by Jelali and co-workers (Jelali et al., 2001; Gorgels et al., 2003).

Properties of proposed control performance algorithms and tools CPA algorithms have been implemented to calculate performance indices repeatedly over time and comparing them to alarm limits. Each alarm limit can be decided from statistical characteristics of the index or by some other criteria. The most important of properties of the CPM tools developed are: Use of raw data. The use of archived (usually modified) data is avoided. For instance, data smoothing, data compression, and data quantisation affect the calculated CPIs (the loop performance will be over-estimated). No need of plant tests. This requirement is important as the user is interested in the closedloop behaviour of the system. However, careful inspection of the collected (routine operating) data is recommended, as they may be not as informative as they would be if a substantial external excitation is introduced in the system. Ability to run automatically. The CPA system developed does need only little or no manual intervention of the operators or engineers. Non-invasiveness. The CPA procedures included run without disturbing the normal operation of the control loops. Data needed for assessment are acquired under normal plant production conditions without any additional excitations.

The best results are obtained by the collective application of several methods that reflect control performance measures from different aspects: minimum variance or Harris index, inspection of correlation and spectral functions, and indices for detection of specific malfunctions; see Figure 2.44.

63

Figure 2.44

BFIs MATLAB offline environment (CONTROL SUPERVISOR) for performance assessment of metal processing controls

TASK 2.5 Development of Automatic Fault-Diagnosis Tools

This task includes the development of Automatic adaptation of fault-alarm thresholds. Advanced fault diagnosis procedures. Automatic trend detection and prognosis of defect-related states. Flatness-relevant system behaviour. Identification of incoming strip-characteristics relevant for fault generation.

Automatic adaptation of fault-alarm thresholds For further off-line analysis special import routines for the stored raw data have been programmed. As raw data the calculated frequency spectrums (FFTs), the defect frequencies of the components and the work roll revolutions are stored. By considering the strip speed, the defect frequency of each component can be delivered for every position in the measurements and all coils. It is now possible to visualize and analyse the max. amplitudes of all supervised components for an arbitrary amount of coils. In Fig. 8 the max. amplitude of 21 components of about 100 coils is shown. The frequency domain is separated in three regions: 200Hz-100Hz, 100-25Hz, 25-0Hz.

The vertical green lines indicate changes of the work rolls. With this approach the actual situation and the development over the time/coils of the chosen components can be analysed.

64

Figure 2.45

Amplitudes of defect frequencies of 100 coils a) 200-100Hz, b) 100-25Hz, c) 25-0Hz

Advanced fault diagnosis procedures Creation and visualization of a soft-sensor for slipping effects during rolling During the test of new rolling conditions, slipping effects during rolling occurred at the temper mill of Rasselstein. The thickness signal of a coil with such a slipping effect is shown in Figure 2.46. The signal looks like as if there would be noise or mismeasurements. In the frequency domain, the FFT delivers nothing unusual and an analysis of the FFTs can not detect the effect.

Figure 2.46

Critical rolling conditions with slip effects in the thickness signal

The slip effect occurs if the rolling force is to small. Then the strip is passing without thickness reduction for a very short time (see Figure 2.47).

65

Roll force

Roll force

a) Normale rolling condition

b) Critical rolling condition

Figure 2.47

Slipping effects during rolling through small roll forces

The developed algorithm analyses the thickness signal in the time domain and considers the standard deviation and the unsymmetrical distribution of the thickness outlier. The same analysis has to be done with the incoming thickness signal. With the results of these two analysis the final soft-sensing variable can be computed. For normal rolling conditions Figure 2.48 shows the analysis results. The thickness signal after stand 1 is plotted as blue line in the 4.th sub picture. Three smaples are shown (green, red , black). The calculated variable for each section is marked with a red circle. All values (0.0%, -0.5%, 0.0%) are below the threshold of 0.6%. The analysis of a coil with slip effects can be seen in Figure 2.49. The slipping variable is again marked by a red circles. The three checked sections of the strip deliver values (2.6%, 1.9%, 2.0%) which are significant over the alarm threshold of 0.6%. With this soft-sensor these slipping effects can be detected in time.

Figure 2.48

Detection of slipping effects during rolling: normal rolling conditions

66

Figure 2.49

Detection of slipping effects during rolling: critical rolling conditions with slipping effects

Automatic trend detection and prognosis of defect-related states For fault-diagnosis of the machinery as well as of the product quality it is necessary to monitor and analyse the dynamical process behaviour. The dynamic depends on two different points: a) the natural frequencies and modes of the plant within all component properties and boundary conditions, b) the excitation of the plant during rolling which are mostly speed dependent, like gearing, unbalance or bearing-defects, but also speed independent, like self-excitation. An automatic trend detection and prognosis of defect-related states can only be successfully, if it is possible to separate the natural behaviour and the excitation behaviour. So BFI is developing the method of the dynamic fingerprint, which will allow not only this separation, but also a failure analysis of the plant components, a trend analysis of the global plant condition, and at least a quality control of dynamic induced defects. Theoretical background of the Dynamic Fingerprint For effective signal analysis BFI developed a useful diagram layout of the frequency-spectrum and the order-spectrum. The spectrum-layout in Figure 2.50 includes e.g. different types of diagrams. The area diagram is the spectrogram, that means an array of short time frequency spectra of the vibration signal to analyse. Under the spectrogram is the time graph of the signal to analyse, and below is the time graph of a reference value, like speed. Above the spectrogram is a diagram of values at the frequency-line. On the left side of the spectrogram are diagrams containing a frequency spectrum at a special time-line and / or an accumulated frequency spectrum. In the order-layout (Figure 2.51) there the area diagram is the ordergram, that is the spectrogram related to the reference time signal below. Than above the ordergram is the a diagram with values of constant order, and left are graphs of a time-line order spectrum and / or an accumulated order spectrum. A simplified demonstration is possible by taking a theoretical vibration-signal, obtaining three sinussignals with constant frequencies (eigenmodes) and also three with linear growing (or speed-dependent) frequencies of different order. Using the accumulated frequency spectrum (see Figure 2.50) one can find the three constant frequencies (or modes) at 27Hz, 43Hz, and 80Hz. Taking a time-line frequency spec-

67

trum you cannot differ the constant and the linear growing frequencies. In opposite the accumulated order spectrum (see Figure 2.51) gives the chance to separate the orders of the growing signal, in this case with order 1, order 6 and order 16. In a time-line order spectrum a dividing into constant and speed dependent signals is again not feasible. In the case of constant speed all six frequencies in the theoretical signal are constant the eigen-frequencies as well as the time-dependent frequencies. Figure 2.52 shows, that it is not possible to separate the different signal parts, neither by use of spectrogram analysis nor by use of ordergram analysis.

Figure 2.50

Spectrum-layout with spectrogram, accumulated and time-line frequency spectrum during run up of the theoretical example with 3 constant and 3 speed depended frequencies

Figure 2.51

Order-layout with ordergram, accumulated and time-line order spectrum during run up of the theoretical example with 3 constant and 3 speed depended frequencies

68

Figure 2.52

Spectrum- and order-layout at constant speed of the theoretical example with 3 constant and 3 speed depended frequencies

Application of the Dynamic Fingerprint to a two stand temper mill Database The developed tools are in application to a two stand tandem mill. The algorithms can be applied to different signals, to process-signals, like rolling force or strip tension, to plant-signals like vibrations or strain, but also to quality-signals like strip thickness. Figure 2.53 shows an overview of the measured signals and Figure 2.54 in detail the position and photos of the accelerometers. In fig. 6 one can see some examples of measured signals during rolling in case of long speed-up, constant phase at maximum speed, and normally slow-down.

Figure 2.53

Schema of the measured signals at the mill

69

Figure 2.54

Positions of the vibration measuring sensors on top of the mill housing, at the chocks of work- and backup-rolls, and at the gear units

Figure 2.55
Spectrum- and order-analysis

Examples of process, quality and acceleration signals during rolling

The spectrum-layout of the hole rolling operation gives Figure 2.55, as example of the acceleration signal of the gear box of stand 1. It is very good observable, that there are a lot of speed dependent signal parts, that excite the plant with different orders and different magnitudes. Also some areas of eigenmodes are visible. On the left of the layout are the spectra of two different time-lines, the first in the speed-up phase, the second at maximum speed, and also the accumulated frequency spectrum. They all include different information, about the eigen-behaviour and about the excitation of the gear box. The constant phase is useful to calculate the contained frequency values with very high accuracy, because the algorithm of the Fourier-transformation (FFT) demands constant frequencies. But a separation and a weighting of the sig-

70

nal rates can only be successful by using the speed-up part, although the results of the FFT are only mean values for each time sector. So it is essential to make a compromise between high frequency resolution, that requires long time data, and low transformation error, that requires constant conditions and short time date respectively.

Figure 2.56

Spectrum-analysis of the acceleration signal of the gearbox of the hole rolling time

Figure 2.56 shows the spectrum-layout only for the speed-up phase of the rolling. In the accumulated frequency spectrum one can see now many eigen-modes in some groups. Torsion eigenmodes of the drive system are in the first region at about 10 to 50 Hz. In the second region of about 400 to 600 Hz there exist e.g. bending modes of the gearwheel shafts. Modes of the gear housing, of the teeth of the gearwheels, and also from the mill stand may occur at the higher frequencies in region 3 and 4. The detailed determination of each mode is only possible with enhanced methods, like operational modal analysis (OMA), by use of multi-sensor techniques. But for trend analysis the magnitudes and frequencies are sufficient firstly. The identification of the excitation and its causes can be done by order-analysis during speed-up (Figure 2.57). The accumulated order spectrum contains the information about the ratio of the signal to the revolution of the work roll. Within the parameters of the bearings, the gearwheels, and the rolling diameters one can relate the measured result to a component of the gear unit or the hole mill. In the example (Figure 2.57) there you can find the order 38, that is the number of teeth of the gear reduction stage, the order 76, which is the second order of the tooth engagement, and the order 20.28, that is the defect order of the inner race of the radial work roll bearing. The section of the order spectrum in Figure 2.58 shows also the order 39 with lower magnitude, that is the number of teeth of the pinion gear unit.

71

Figure 2.57

Spectrum-analysis of the acceleration signal of the gearbox of the speed-up time

Figure 2.58

Order-analysis of the acceleration signal of the gearbox of the speed-up time

Early warning and reduction of coil tumble in the two-stand temper mill The coil-tumble is a critical problem during down-coiling. Especially in the starting period, when the coil has its greatest diameter and mass, only little unbalance can yield to high forces and high tumble magnitudes. The results of coil-tumbling are increasing deformations and wear but also processinstabilities and strip-faults. The aim is, to give the operator an objective indicator about the intensity of coil tumbling and to give speed-reduction advice, to avoid strip surface faults. Two accelerometer-sensors were installed at the down-coiler to measure the dynamical behaviour. The second essential information for tumble-identification is the rotation per time of the coiler.

72

The first attempts by use directly the vibration signal for the diagnosis, but also some other methods to calculate a clear tumble-criterion, were not successful. The problem is more tricky than it seemed to be, because there are lots of different vibrations in a wide range of frequencies and amplitudes. Several different algorithms as well in frequency-domain as in time-domain were programmed and tested off-line. The algorithm, that gave well defined results in off-line and on-line trials, is the following (see also Figure 2.59, Figure 2.60, Figure 2.61): 1. signal acquisition measurement of the vibration signals down-coiler operator side and drive side, measurement of the rolling speed and time signal of the strip-length, coiler rotation-speed depending scaling of the vibration signals, filtering of the vibration signals and calculation of the difference-signal, calculation of the statistical variables and calculation of a special envelope curve, Fourier-transformation of transformed signal and of fault-amplitude supervision plot of the tumble-criterion (with warning- and alarm-limits) and of the spectrogram (with rotation-speed and double).

2. signal adaptation 3. signal converting 4. signal deviation 5. signal classification 6. signal visualisation

Figure 2.59 Original (green in the top-diagrams) and rated (blue) vibration signals of the drive- and operator-side, rolling speed and rotation per time of the coiler, determined significant values of the drive-side-signal (green in the bottom-diagram), the operator-side-signal (black), and the difference-signal (red)

73

Figure 2.60 Results of a non-tumbling-coil: calculated dynamic-signal of the down-coiler (blue in the three upper-diagrams) and the limit of the standard-deviation (red) in relation to the rotation (red dashed vertical lines), percental deviations of the signals and frequency-related tumble-criterion (blue), spectrogram and rotation-speed of the down-coiler (blue in the bottom-diagram

Figure 2.61 Results of a tumbling-coil: calculated dynamic-signal of the down-coiler (blue in the three upper-diagrams) and the limit of the standard-deviation (red) in relation to the rotation (red dashed vertical lines), percent deviations of the signals and frequency-related tumble-criterion of the rotating (blue) and the double (black), spectrogram and rotationspeed of the down-coiler (blue in the bottom-diagram) and the double (black) Flatness-relevant system behaviour

74

Correlation analysis of shape measurement Aim of this subproject is to prove the possibility to improve the productivity by use of correlation analysis of strip shape measurements. To reduce errors of the strip shape in the finishing line (VA10) the rolling parameters at the tandem mill (NWW4) should be optimised. For this reason there are a shapemeter roll at the exit of the temper mill and an optical measurement system (TopPlan) at the input of finishing line at Rasselstein installed for online determination of the strip shape (Figure 2.62). The hole situation is displayed in Figure 2.63. Following work steps were be done: implementation and calibration of the TopPlan measuring system, setting up the data coupling between the measuring systems and the central unit, programming of an analysis tool to compare the measuring systems, integration of the software in the plant system, first test measurements, evaluation and interpretation of the results.

Figure 2.64 shows the display of the dataviewer.

Figure 2.62

Left: measurement system (above) and projector (below); Right: strip surface

75

Figure 2.63

Schematic illustration of the measuring points at the temper mill NWW4 and the different conditions at the finishing line VA10, depending on the downcoiling

Figure 2.64

DataViewer for the comparison of the measurements at NWW4 and VA10

76

2.6 WP 3 Design and implementation of front-end interfaces

The main activities related to the WP3 have concerned the design, development and implementation of an on-line monitoring system to provide the elaborated diagnostic information as clearly and immediately as possible as to allow operators to carry out the necessary counter measures.

TASK 3.1

Methods & systems for hot strip mills

The whole system is realised through the integration of two modules: user-friendly interface, real time alarm system.

User-friendly interface Following plant operator and technician suggestions, the dedicated user-friendly interface, called Skid Analyzer, has been realised in order to provide (graphical representation) the elaborated diagnostic information. Web techniques have been used in order to spread information to all involved final users (plant operators/technicians). A snapshots of the Skid Analyzer interface, integrated with a short description of the main characteristics, is reported in Figure 2.65 By selecting the following list of parameters: hot rolling schedule, under production (on-line) or rolled (off-line) production route (thin slab production RHF-, conventional production WB - or both RHF+WB) some strips or share of the whole rolling schedule, thermal device along the line: o o o o pyrometer at the exit of the roughing mill (TUS), pyrometer at the entry of the finishing mill (TIF), pyrometer at the exit of the finishing mill (TUF), scanning pyrometer at the entry of the active panels (SCAN).

The web page provides the main characteristics (rolling schedule description) of the strips under investigation and the relative thermal characterization through a group of graphs representing the elaborated thermal information (trend of all thermal indicators, Virtual Thermal Global Indicator for the last rolled slab/bar/strip and trend of the Virtual Thermal Global Indicator along the selected rolling schedule).

77

Figure 2.65

Front-end interface Skid Analyzer

78

Figure 2.66

Rolling schedule description - main characteristics of the strips under analysis

Some details are reported in the following. Rolling schedule description, shown in Figure 2.66 provides the main characteristics of the strips under analysis as: Strip identification number (Nim), Hot rolling schedule number (Pdl), Progressive strip number (Pgr) that identifies the strip position along the rolling schedule, Strip width (Largh), Steel grade (Acc),

while the 8 graphs show, for the strips under investigation, respectively: Trend of the thermal indicators (IT1IT6) defined in Task 2.1. As highlighted in the Figure 2.26, each red point represents the thermal indicator value of a slab/bar/strip, depending on the selected pyrometer, while the continuous coloured line (green, blue, black and red) are the respective limit value. Virtual Global Thermal Indicator (ITVG) for the last rolled slab/bar/strip. ITVG represents the on-line intelligent indicator able to classify the global thermal conditions of the product along the line according to the rules reported in Task 2.1. Figure 2.67 shows the implemented ITVG representation mode, where the height filled column is related to the global thermal state of the product, precisely higher the height filled column is, worse the global thermal state is.

79

Trend of the Virtual Global Thermal Indicator where each red point represents the ITVG value of a slab/bar/strip while the continuous coloured lines (green, blue, black and red) identify the limit values according to the rules reported on Figure 2.68.

Figure 2.67

Virtual Thermal Global indicator

80

Figure 2.68

Operative counter measures as function of ITVG value

81

On the basis of the ITVG value the system suggests to the operator suitable countermeasures to be adopted for rolling process management. The identified operative actions are: bar reject at finishing mill entry in case of severe thermal inconsistency, intelligent alternative thickness (provided by the system or selected by operator) to assure, as much as possible, the feasibility of subsequent processes in cold area, emergency thickness (significantly higher than scheduled), tuning of the standard operating practices; this is related, for instance, to some adjustments in the slab reheating at walking beam furnace.

On-line operative actions, in case of dangerous thermal inconsistencies, has to be carried out before entering to the finishing mill; so the involved thermal measurements exclude the pyrometer at the finishing mill entry, which is used for managing process for the subsequent strip and for tuning operating practices. Figure 2.68 presents the actual limit values for performing actions on the mill accordingly to the thermal inconsistencies. Real-time alarm system The alarm system, based on the rules reported in Figure 2.68 notifies to the operators the operative countermeasures to be adopted in case of thermal inconsistencies by a suitable visual and audio information. OPC (Objective-Linking and Embedding for Process Control) client-server technique has been used to develop the alarm system. The hardware and software architecture for automatic generation of visual and audio alarms is reported in Figure 2.69 and Figure 2.70 Figure 2.69 shows the system hardware architecture where a suitable work station/server, dedicated to alarm system, has been installed and linked by Ethernet network to the level 2 automation system, to acquire process date and ITVG output, and to level 1 following an internal TKAST project of the alarms centralization. Figure 2.70 shows the system software architecture, based on OPC Alarm Event protocol, integrated with the description of the main modules that compose the system.

82

Figure 2.69

Alarm system hardware architecture

83

Figure 2.70

Alarm system software architecture

84

On the basis of the ITVG value, the OPC alarm server identifies the suitable alarm level (from level 1 to level 5) able to describe the operative action to be performed by operators, stores the information in the dedicated database and moreover sends the identified alarm procedure to the OPC alarm client in order to notify the information to all pulpits along the Hot Strip Mill. More severe the entity of the thermal inconsistency is, higher the alarm level is and consequently the alarm procedure (visual and audio notification) changes according to the description reported in Figure 2.71. More precisely, low entity of the thermal inconsistency generates low-volume or any audio notification and provides temporary visual description; the above not require any action by operator. When the entity of the thermal inconsistency increases, the volume of the audio notification increases and the alarm description blinks on the monitor until action is taken by operator (acknowledgment of alarm by clicking on button). The OPC alarm client provides automatically a visual and audio alarm according to the description reported in Figure 2.72; at the top of the page is displayed the alarm information concerning the last rolled bar, while below is reported a list of the historical alarms generated by the system and, finally, the speaker reads a specific message. Although the system has been designed to perform actions on plant (i.e. plant stoppage), at present all decision or actions must be executed by operator.

85

Figure 2.71

Relationships between elaborated thermal conditions and alarm procedures

86

Figure 2.72

OPC alarm client interface

TASK 3.2 Methods and systems for tandem cold mills

The infrastructure of the system for detection of mill condition in regular running (rolling), based on a dimension reduction (SOM specifically) model, was almost ready during this task, lacking only the configuration of a suitable model. In the acquisition and monitoring application, a map of the mill states/conditions is shown and a pointer in real time points out the state in the map most similar to the current mill condition (estimated condition), along with the residuals or differences of the current values of the variables (present in the model) and their values in the model corresponding to the estimated condition. This method applies also to mill condition assessment in idle-run mode. The only difference is the model configuration, involving only variables available in this mode: rolling forces, vibrations and speeds. The initial models created in previous tasks were intended only for stand 5. The next evolution of the models in this task were intended for the entire rolling mill, using 79 features, but they were limited to a specific width, material type, and input and output target thickness. For these new models, as examples of the most important known facts that influence the feature selection, the following can be mentioned:

1. The rolling force and tension needed to obtain a given output thickness are inversely related. 2. The output thickness is controlled through tension, that in turn is modified by actuation on the speed. 3. The harmonics related to roll eccentricity appear in thickness, rolling forces and tensions. 4. Third octave chatter has an adverse influence on thickness and usually appears in the last one or two stands of tandem rolling mills. Frequency range: 120-190 Hz.

87

5. Fifth octave chatter has an adverse influence on rolls (chatter marks). Generally attributed to markings on the work and backup rolls, chattered incoming strip and other defects in mill components such as bearings or drive gears. Frequency range: 450-700 Hz. 6. Mill vibration and speed are related (in a non simple way).
To obtain a general estimation of the mill state, taking into account points 1 and 2, the mean values of the following variables are included in the feature vector: rolling force, tension and speed in every stand, and delivery thickness. The inclusion of all these variables also tries to capture in the feature vector anything related to deviations of the mean output thickness from the target thickness. Analogously, the standard deviations of the same variables are included in the feature vector trying to capture anything related to deviations of the output thickness from its mean value. One aspect of the relationship between thickness and tension mentioned in point 2 can beobserved in the scatter plots of the standard deviation of those (example with stand 5: Figure 2.73).

Figure 2.73

Correlation map (left) and scatter plot (right) of standard deviations of outputthickness and back tension in stand 5. The latter shows a significant overall positive correlation between those variables. The former confirms it but shows some states with a slightly lower positive correlation.

The relation between vibration and speed of point 6 is shown in Figure 2.74. That figure shows that usually the higher the speed, the higher the vibration level. They also show that higher vibration levels in stand 4 results in variable thickness quality. This effect appears in all the stands, but especially in stands 4 and 5.

88

Figure 2.74

Scatter plots of vibrations vs. speed, from top to bottom and left to right, stands 1 through 5. The last one (bottom left) represents vibration in stand 4 vs. delivery thickness.

To take into account the relationships in point 3, the harmonics 1x and 2x of the bottom backup and work rolls in thickness, rolling forces and tensions are included in the model as rms values in frequency bands. Also because of this point 3, the standard deviation of thickness, rolling forces and tensions are included, as they are equivalent to the rms value of their ripple (rms with a previous mean removal). No apparent correlation between roll bending forces and quality is observed. However they are included in the model for the moment. Regarding the rolling mill characterization by idle-run (using 500 m/min of speed, 500 t. of force), the criterion used at present is based on the upper envelope of the rolling forces. When the difference between the maximum and the minimum is greater than 25 t., the condition of the rolls is considered bad. To assist in that procedure, the calculation andgraphical representation of the envelope is implemented in the data analysis application. The equivalence between this criterion and another based on force harmonics is an ongoing research (Figure 2.75).

89

Figure 2.75

Spectra of rolling forces (in secondary window, from top to bottom, stands 1 through 5).

The behavior of state pointer indicating the current state of the rolling mill was modified and now it can be configured to leave a trace of any number of old positions (Figure 2.76, upper left quadrant in the top right map). Each location in the maps is associated with a combination of values of the feature vector and therefore with a state of the mill. In any of the maps the location corresponding to a given state is the same. The only difference between them is the additional information related to each map location (state) shown coded in color:

Feature maps: the value of a specific feature, Distance map: mean (euclidean) distance in the input space between SOM units (learned feature vectors), Condition map: the specific labeled condition which each state belongs to.

The state pointed out in these model windows is in fact the recorded state most similar to the current one, and the differences in the values of the features for both states are shown in a residual window (Figure 2.76, left). In the residual window the features are placed in the vertical axis.

90

Rolling mill state monitoring with SOM model: residual window (left), state map (top right) and feature map of the rms value of the delivery thickness (bottom right). The state map shows low quality conditions with hot colors and high quality conditions with coldcolors. The residual window show initial zero residuals (green, no coil data), then high residuals (start of a coil, transients of heads and tails not included in the model), and moderately significant residuals until the right side of the window, which corresponds to the current point in the coil. The current state pointer is in the upper left quadrant in the maps (quite small, especially in the feature map), with older positions in a paler color. The horizontal axis of the residual window represents time, where the current values of the residuals are shown in the rightmost side of the graph and are scrolled left as time advances. When a feature value is higher for the current state than for the signaled one (positive difference), it appears in colors tending to red (from low to high difference: yellow, orange, red). When a feature value is lower for the current state than for the signaled one (negative difference), it appears in colors tending to blue (from low to high absolute value of the difference: cyan, light blue, dark blue). A zero residual is green, which indicates equal feature values in both states, current and signaled. The represented residual values are relative to the standard deviation of those for the training data. Thus, the extreme colors, dark red and dark blue, correspond to a configurable multiple of those standard deviations.

Figure 2.76

91

Model generation The model is obtained from feature extraction data during a SOM training stage. Previously some SOM training parameters must be configured: SOM grid dimensions, epochs (iterations through the training data set) and final neighborhood. The next step is obtaining a condition map: group similar states and identify all the states within each group under a single label. This is accomplished automatically after a stage in which the user generates the so called thresholded [distance] map from the distance map. The distance map represents the mean euclidean distance between feature vectors of each individual state and its neighbours. The user chooses a distance between the maximum and the minimum of the whole distance map and a thresholded map isgenerated, where individual units are marked as belonging to a condition (group of neighbour states) if the distance is lower than the threshold, or as belonging to a frontier or border between conditions if the distance is higher than the threshold. After that, an algorithm automatically assigns a different color to each condition (group of neighbour states surrounded by frontiers). The color assigned to each condition can be related to the mean value within the condition of one of the variables. Particularly interesting for this are the variables related to quality, for instance the rms value of the output thickness. In addition, each condition gets a default text label that can be changed by the user. After all this procedure, depicted in Figure 2.77, the resulting model can be loaded in the acquisition application for off-line analysis of previously captured coils or for on-line monitoring. There exists different approaches for model generation. Depending on the characteristics regarding quality of the coils included in the model, two kinds of models can be created that imply different use procedures, which will be described in the next subsections.

92

Figure 2.77 Automatic state partition: 1) distance map (top left), 2) thresholded map (top right) and 3) state map (bottom right). In the latter, conditions are given a color related to the rms value of the deliverythickness within the condition, variable represented in the feature map (bottom left). Model including all qualities The usual procedure is to label each state in the map with an indication of the condition of the mill for producing with high quality (good/bad). During monitoring, if the residuals are zero, the current condition corresponds to a recorded one (good or bad), which is indicated by the state pointer in the maps. These recorded or known bad conditions must be characterized beforehand analyzing the causes for their low quality and this knowledge must be used to obtain a rule base which provides with hints to get transitions of the rolling mill to known good conditions. If some residuals are non zero, the values of the residuals indicate the differences between the current state and the signaled one. Particularly, the features related to quality may show if the current quality is higher or lower than the signaled in the state map, and if it is lower the rest of the residuals may provide a clue about the causes.

93

When the residuals show a considerable difference between the current state and the recorded ones, normally the current coil must be added to the model (by carrying out a feature extraction and SOM training). Model including only high quality In this case, a low quality production should result always in non zero residuals, that may provide information about the causes. However if the number of non zero residuals is high, the task of interpreting that information can be difficult. The residual of the quality related features must be used to distinguish new high quality conditions not included in the model that must be used to update it.

TASK 3.3 Methods & systems for temper mills

Chatter observer and chatter compensation The chatter observer and compensation, explained in TASK 2.3, were installed and work well for the 18mm chatter-marks on the backup-rolls (see Figure 2.78). After the online installation of the chatter compensation system, the in Figure 2.78 shown chatter-marks vanishes away. To verify that this positive effect is really delivered by the chatter compensation system, the system was turned of for testing purpose. The result has been that the chatter-marks came up again. After reactivating the chatter compensation system, the 18mm chatter-marks vanish away again. For a further increment of backup roll lifetime, the parameters of the chatter compensation system are now material depending.

Figure 2.78

Chatter marks on backup rolls without the chatter compensation system

Early warning and reduction of coil tumble The algorithm is described in TASK 2.5 coded in C and integrated in the graphical programming language LogiCAD of the automation system MeviNET of IMS. The coil tumble amplitude can be shown online. Furthermore the tumble amplitude is stored coil length based in the SQL database for offline analysis.

94

Adaptation of fault-alarm thresholds of the vibration diagnosis system K.O.P.F. The algorithms to determine the fault-alarm threshold for vibration diagnosis were enhanced and optimised, so that it is possible to get results for all defect-frequencies depending on different roll-sets, different process-conditions and different strip-material. In Figure 2.79 the user interface for the automatic warn and alarm threshold calculation is shown. The calculation can be done over an arbitrary amount of coils (example in Figure 2.80). This classification is absolute necessary for the vibration monitoring and diagnosis under altering operating conditions. The calculated warn and alarm thresholds can be easily activated in the automatic diagnosis system.

Figure 2.79

User interface for the automatic warn and alarm threshold calculation

95

Figure 2.80

Advanced estimation of magnitudes of defect frequencies

The system for automatic supervision is extended to 39 defect frequencies of the temper mill NWW 4. The supervised defect frequencies belong mainly to:

Work roll and backup roll bearings of stand 1 and stand 2 Alignment of the drives of stand 1 and stand 2 Roll eccentricities of stand 1 and stand 2 Gear box frequencies of stand 1 and stand 2

96

Trend detection of defect-related states by use of the Dynamic Fingerprint The theoretical background of the Dynamic Fingerprint were descript in TASK 2.5 in detail. It allows the separation of vibrations which are caused by the system eigen-behaviour and which are speedproportional excitations (see Figure 2.81). The determination of this fingerprint in special intervals under special conditions is essential to expand the plant monitoring to a quality control of dynamic induced defects.

Figure 2.81

Fingerprint-measurement at the temper mill: separation of the frequencies of eigenmodes and excitations and the possible resulting wavelength of chatter-marks

WP 4 On-site integration, testing, tuning and evaluation of the developed systems

TASK 4.1 Hot strip mill at TKAST
Virtual thermal sensor base diagnosis The activities related to the WP4 have concerned:

integration of the developed systems, virtual thermal sensor based system and alarm system,
into the existing Hot Strip Mills automation and control process system,

on-line test and tuning of the Skid Analyser interface, on-line test and tuning of the alarm system, On-site testing, tuning and evaluation of the whole system,

97

 Final release of the whole system During the testing phase the following activities have been
carried out:

Extensive test off-line, during normal HSM production, of the virtual thermal sensor based system and the alarm system. Some adjustments/upgrading have been performed as:

o revision of the limit value of each thermal indicator (Lim+, Lim-, Lim1 and Lim2), o optimisation of the ITVG coefficients (A.E), o improvement of the graphical interface (Skid analyzer), o Revision of the alarm procedures (visual and audio notification) to improve the alarm
efficacy,

integration of the developed systems into the existing Hot Strip Mills automation and control
process system and on-line test,

web access test and selection of the authorized personnel,

Furthermore, in order to get easier the access to the Skid analyzer by technicians, the existing scanning pyrometer report has been updated to permit to recall the web page simply by clicking the SKA button, as highlighted in Figure 2.82.

Test on-line to evaluate the reliability and the robustness of the whole system, Final release to the users.
The system, implemented on the dedicated PC to all pulpits along the mill (see Figure 2.83), is now currently used during normal hot strip mill production.

Figure 2.82

Skid Analyzer integration on the existing scanning pyrometer report

98

Figure 2.83

Skid Analyzer interface in the walking beam pulpit

99

TASK 4.2 Tandem cold mill at Aceralia

The three applications are used at Aceralia and they are working with high stability. In addition to the main Softdetect computer, used mainly for data acquisition and monitoring, another computer (used at the same time for other purposes) has been set up as a econdary database server to solve some issues regarding performance. The highest performance is obtained running, on one hand, data acquisition and monitoring, and on the other hand, feature extraction and/or model generation, both in the Softdetect computer (but usually supervised remotely through VNC). In that situation the bottleneck is the hard disk bandwidth, being the CPU usage about 90%. However, if the feature extraction is executed remotely, in another computer accessing acquisition data in the Softdetect computer through network, the network may become the bottleneck, depending on the location where it is executed. When this happens, and several feature extractions using the same input data are needed, a secondary computerwith a copy of the database (or just the part of it needed) may be set up. In the future, if a performance improvement is deemed necessary, a number of solutions can be considered depending on the bottleneck:

hard disk bandwidth: Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID). CPU usage: nowadays, the increase of processing power is achieved by a higher number of processors or with multi-core processors. network: assure high speed connections between both locations (Softdetect computer and the computer used for data analysis).

In addition to the performance issues, some problems regarding relatively high volumes of data as a result of feature extractions involving a moderately high number of coils has been encountered. When the database was accessed to store a binary field, and the size of the binary field exceeded 40 Mb approximately, the database crashed. To solve that problem, those write accesses are now done through ODBC. In the final period of the project some simple but very useful features were added to the software applications: condition-partition improvements, condition/coil statistics, rollchange table, coil spectrogram, correlation matrix. During this last period of the project, the continuous use of the offline analysis application made clear some complexities in its use in a typical data analysis session. Some interface elements were reorganized or modified (menus and specific terms) and some simple tools added. The automatic partition of the process map in conditions was modified to shrink the frontiers between conditions. Previously, The frontiers were over-sized: they included states that should actually belong to a contiguous condition.

100

The condition/coil statistics are useful to determine in what amount each coil is included in each condition and vice versa when labeling a map. The roll-change table highlights changes of parameters between consecutive coils, especially interesting for roll changes. The correlation matrix is the graphic representation of the overall correlations between variables. It also allows to open the scatter plot or correlation map corresponding to each variable pair with just two mouse clicks (Figure 2.86 and Figure 2.87 ). Model fine tuning Current models have 117 features and they are generated including variables from the five stands of the mill and coils with different values for the parameters width, material type, and target input thickness and output target thickness. When all the combinations of values of these parameters are present and well represented in the model (with enough training samples used to generate it), it is able to choose as the previously recorded coil most similar to the current one during monitoring, a coil with the same values for this parameters. Moreover, this is made without including in the model these parameters as variables. The other variables included are already characteristic and discriminant respect to the values of those parameters. Some results during data analysis made necessary to modify the model to improve diagnosis. They are as following.

Chatter detection The quality of the vibration signals was improved with the installation of low-pass filters, so the related variables were analyzed to include some of them in the model. Chatter vibrations are very frequent in stands 4 and 5. The third-octave bands of the vibration in stands 4 and 5 were added as features (150 Hz center frequency, 100 Hz bandwidth) and the correlation map between them and the rms value of the strip thickness was obtained to verify its influence. It showed a positive correlation as expected (though mild): the higher the vibration in the chatter band, the higher the rms value of the strip thickness (and the lower the quality). Alt hough less frequent, obvious vibrations in third octave band have been observed in stand 1. Figure 2.84 shows an idle-run test with high vibration (0.08 g) in the stand 1.

101

Figure 2.84 Harmonics in forces and vibration in stand 1 (from top tobottom: total force, drive side force, operator side force, vibration) This vibration is specially important (0.03 g rms) in the third octave frequency band. The force spectrum also shows significant harmonics in that range. Because of this, this bands in forces have been also included in the model. These effects are mixed with a 149 Hz harmonic from the hydraulic screw down pump that is always present and that does not seem to affect thickness quality when it appears alone. This stand is highly susceptible to mechanical damage because of the low change frequency of its rolls (changes in rolls of stands 4 y 5 are usually due to marks or wear, whereas changes in rolls of the stand 1 are generally caused by damage or deformation of the rolls). In the example shown, the high level of vibration forced roll change in stand 1. This and some other observations show that the stand 1 has a high influence in thickness quality, as expected. Also it is ademonstration of the abilities of idle run for searching defective rolls. Because of this, the third octave bands for all the stands have been included in the model. Idle-run data analysis In the spectrograms of all idle-run tests, some periodic impulsive effects can be observed, one every 55 seconds, another one every 60 seconds, simultaneously (the first one with as lightly dominant frequency of 8 Hz). Their causes are unknown at the moment, but as apparently they do not affect thickness quality, they are being ignored. It has been determined that the idle-run data acquisition has to be delayed until the mill reaches the thermal steady state after roll change to avoid the effect in forces depicted in Figure 2.85, caused by expansion of the rolls. Also, maybe because of that, it is difficult to infer the condition of the mill comparing the idlerun behavior with the quality just after roll change because initially the quality is always lower than normal.

102

Figure 2.85

Effect in forces during idle-run (4 tests) after roll change, probably caused by roll thermal expansion: forces should be constant but they describe ramps.

Figure 2.86

Correlation matrix for all the variables in the model using coils with all qualities.

103

Figure 2.87

Correlation matrix for all the variables in the model usingonly coils with low quality.

Rolling data analysis Analyzing data from rolling using correlations, it was detected an important difference between data obtained from all coils and data from only coils with low quality (quality<60%): there were higher (overall) correlations in the latter than in the former, as seen in Figure 2.86 and Figure 2.87, including those involving the local thickness quality variable. That result, which can be also inferred in local correlations using all coils (in zones corresponding to low quality coils), confirms that most of the features chosen for the model are useful for detection of low quality. In delivery thickness spectrograms, some harmonics with frequencies that decrease in time were observed (Figure 2.88). It was proved that they are caused by the coiler (probably through front tension oscillations in stand 5), as those frequencies match perfectly its rotation frequency and multiples, obtained by simulation using the strip output speed in stand 5 as input (Figure 2.89). This fact is not considered important, from the thicknessquality point of view, because its relative influence is considered low.

104

Figure 2.88

Output thickness spectrogram.

Figure 2.89

Output thickness spectrogram with the 1x and 2x coiler harmonics highlighted with simulation data.

The variables related to temperatures and cooling, as well as the rms value of output thickness and tension 3-4 and 4-5 in a narrow band around 1,25 Hz, have been added to the model specially for detection of the effect explained below, shown in Figure 2.90 and Figure 2.91. Modeling strategies used There are two possible strategies for model generation, depending on the value of the thickness quality indicator variable of the samples included in the model: all qualities or only high quality.

105

Modeling strategy 1: all quality data Using this strategy, the model is generated using coils from all qualities. When the coil being rolled has low quality usually the model points to another low quality coil previously recorded. Then the operator can mark in the condition map a transition from that low quality condition to a high quality condition and then the system provides textual rules to achieve it (indicating some variables and the changes needed in their values). This strategy has been temporarily discarded because it was determined that required much further research before obtaining results, but a quite detailed explanation and some important ideas are commented here below. Condition-transition rules For mill diagnosis, when using a model generated using data from coils of all qualities, the residuals may not indicate the causes of low quality (when the condition pointed in the map is also a low quality coil, for example). In that case condition-transition rules are useful to obtain hints about what variables may be involved in achieving a change in the mill from a current low quality condition to a similar high quality condition. The main drawback of this method is that all the rules must be previously translated to a format that the operator can easily understand. Also it is difficult to provide rules for all transitions and at the same time obtain simple rules.

Figure 2.90 1.25 Hz harmonic in output thickness (frequency range shown in vertical axis: from 0 to 50 Hz; horizontal axis is time) in dark red at the bottom. Near the beginning, in a short range of time, it is substituted for a 2.2 Hz harmonic (unexplained yet). range of time, it is substituted for a 2.2 Hz harmonic (unexplained yet).

a) Automatic rule generation

The data set composed of the SOM weights as input data and the correspondent state (condition) as target are used as training data for a decision tree (CART). The so-obtained rules are used to generate the rules for transitions between states with the following procedure: Find all the classification rules that have in the THEN part the origin of the transition: origin rules. Find all the classification rules that have in the THEN part the origin of the transition: destiny rules.

106

For all the combinations of one origin rule and one destiny rule among the aforementioned, remove from the antecedent of the destiny rule the common part with the origin rule.

This procedure is equivalent to obtaining the part of the classification rule for the chosen destiny node (a tree leaf) starting from the splitting node respect to the origin node, repeating it for all the combinations

b) Interpretation of the transition rules

From the analysis of the data for the different states, especially by means of the SOM tools, and automatically (decision trees) from data or SOM weights, hints about what features characterize each mill condition can be obtained. Then, these features must be classified in variables that can be manipulated or controlled (i.e., that can be modified by direct or indirect action) and variables that can not. The latter ones must also be related to other variables that can be manipulated. Vibration: not controllable, but related to speed (although a non simple way) and other variables (tension, force, input thickness, etc.). There is a system already working in the mill that measure the energy in the third-octave frequency band of the vibrations and automatically speeds down the mill when the energy level exceeds a specific maximum value. Rolling force: controllable, to some extent. The total reduction can be divided among the stands in different ways. Strip tension: controllable, to some extent, in the same way as the rolling force. Speed: controllable. The operator is able to change the output speed to some extent. Strip temperature: the strip temperature (exit of the last stand) seems to be proportional to the reduction in the last stand. Water temperature: at this moment the only way to cool the water is draining hot water to put cold water in. DA concentration: controllable. This is an important variable to control friction. DA temperature: not easily controllable. The minimum temperature to dissolve oil is 60C. The usual temperature is 70C, obtained by mixing water at 90C and oil at40C approximately. Roll bending: controllable. Used to prevent crown effect in the strip. Forward slip: not controllable but influenced by variables related to friction, rolling forces and tensions. The forward slip is foreseen from a lookup table for each coil. Coolant percentage (intermediate and center): controllable. Opening percentage of the valves. Five zones, located as follows: extreme intermediate center intermediate extreme. One valve controls the extreme zones, another the intermediate zones and another just the center. Used to prevent thermal crown. Rolled length: controllable by roll change. This variable is also related to roll roughness: the higher the rolled length, the lower the roughness. The initial roughness is a standard value in each stand. Temperature 3-4 and 4-5: influenced by water/DA temperature, coolant percentage, speed and, specially, the reduction, and therefore not easily controllable.

Of course, it must be noted that some variables can not be independently chosen because of the different control systems of the rolling mill (AGC and so on). This analysis must be extended to features derived from these variables. Modeling strategy 2: high quality data For mill diagnosis, when using a model generated using only data with high thickness quality, the residuals can be a good indication of the variables related to low quality production. An important drawback of this method is that is difficult for an operator to interpret the residuals (see left of Figure 2.91).

107

Figure 2.91 Residual monitoring of the effect appearing as a 1.25 Hz harmonic in output thickness. The group of residuals in blue at the top half corresponds to cooling variables, one of the two dark red ones immediately below them is the local quality indicator variable The complete procedure is as follows. A threshold for the quality indicator is chosen and only samples with quality higher than that threshold are selected for model training. During monitoring with the resulting model, the condition map provides no significant information. When the coil being rolled is similar enough to another previously recorded (otherwise, a lot of residuals appear and the interpretation is very difficult) some residuals appear (different from zero), which can provide direct information for diagnosis. If that current coil is resulting to be a low quality one, the residual for the quality indicator highlights that fact, and the rest of residuals provide hints of the variables that have to be modified to achieve the same quality that the previously recorded coil that is pointed as the most similar. A problem arises when using a single quality threshold for sample selection: the higher percentage of samples within the quality range for coils with higher target output thickness. The reason is that is more difficult to achieve high thickness quality for low target thicknesses. Because of this, these coils are overrepresented in the model respect to the ones with lower target thickness. A solution for this problem is a future research. Despite this unsolved problem, this strategy allowed the obtaining of quite clear results. An example is an observed effect in the output thickness with a fixed frequency of 1.25 Hz (Figure 2.90). The origin has been not determined exactly yet, but when it appears its influence in the delivery thickness is very important. This project helped to confirm previous results indicating that the most important variables in the appearance of this effect are the ones related to cooling.

108

The cooling must be in agreement with the strip temperature. The cooling is higher for higher temperatures, which in turn are provoked by higher speeds. When the cooling is lower than necessary for the current speed, this effect arises. This situation is shown in Figure 2.91. It can be observed that the thickness variability is high. Also the 1.25 Hz harmonic of the output thickness is high, as well as the same harmonics in tensions 3-4 and 4-5, which are highly correlated in presence of this effect. Looking at the residuals (left of Figure 2.91), it can be observed that the speed is the same that the recorded coil (high quality) pointed by the model (right of Figure 2.91), but the coolant related variables are lower than that of it. Other residuals are different from zero, but with lower values. A list of the capabilities of the developed systems is given in Annex 3. Documentation A user manual have been written for each of the three software applications. Two versions of the user manual have been produced for the offline data analysis application, since its use is considered more complex than the others: a long version and a short (getting started) version.

TASK 4.3 Temper mill at RASSELSTEIN

Figure 2.92 shows the temper mill NWW 4 at RASSELSTEIN. This plant was used to test and implement the belonging algorithms.

Figure 2.92

Temper mill NWW4 at Rasselstein

109

Figure 2.93

Schematic view of the diagnosis system K.O.P.F. at the NWW4

A schematic view of the automatic diagnosis system is shown in Figure 2.93. The following signals are analysed in the rule sets and control unit: Acceleration signals Stand 1: cross head operator side Stand 1: cross head drive side Stand 1: gearbox Stand 2: cross head operator side Stand 2: cross head drive side Stand 2: gearbox

Process signals: Strip thickness h0 Strip thickness h1 Strip thickness h2 Speed working roll stand 1 Speed working roll stand 2

In the control unit 39 defect frequencies are computed and automatic compared with all analysed signals. The rule sets deliver then the most probable cause of faults.

110

Control Performance Monitoring After acquisition of suitable data sets, pre-processing was performed to verify the appropriate sampling time, eliminate bad data and outliers, to mean-centre the data, etc. The closed-loop data used for thickness control monitoring were available at 0.004s sampling rate. A sub-sampling by 40 was found to appropriate. Only the steady-state operation phases, where the rolling speed, and thus the time delay, is constant, have been considered for the performance assessment. The performance analysis has been performed coil-wise, and charts for the performance indices have been generated. Figure 2.94 and Figure 2.95 illustrate the individual minimum variance indices ( = Etha) and the oscillation indices for a representative product mix of ca. 190 coils and for both rolling stands. It can be concluded that both thickness controllers delivers excellent performance ( 1.0), and significant improvement is possible for only a few coils. Also, the oscillation index values indicate no significant oscillative loop behaviour; all index values are below the critical threshold 1.
CPM thickness control stand 1 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Etha

1.5 Oscillation index

0.5

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Figure 2.94

CPM analysis of the thickness control in stand 1

111

CPM thickness control stand 2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Etha

1.5 Oscillation index 1

0.5

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Figure 2.95

CPM analysis of the thickness control in stand 2

The flatness controller of stand 1 and stand 2 have been deactivated mostly. The achieved flatness lies already in the tolerance band. But a performance analysis of controllers can only be done for active controllers. Identification of incoming strip-characteristics relevant for fault generation The incoming strip characteristic is analysed through a FFT of the thickness measurement h0 (before stand 1). This result is compared with the result of the diagnosis rule set. The online layout is showing the characterisation in several ways (see Figure 2.96): 1.) The FFT of h0 is shown in the background as blue curve, 2.) The FFT of h2 is shown in the foreground as red curve, 3.) The determined causes of peaks in the FFTs are labelled by a string, e.g. the component name. Through this characterisation it is easy to understand the cause of a dominant peak in the FFT spectrum and it can be seen if this peak is caused by the actual plant.

112

Figure 2.96

Online layout for incoming strip and outgoing strip characterisation

Early warning and reduction of coil tumble The algorithm is described in TASK 2.5 and Task 3.3 were integrated in the automation system of the temper mill NNW4 at RASSELSTEIN. Furthermore on each side of the down-coiling-system a acceleration sensor was installed (see Figure 2.97) and used for the system. The visualisation of the results of the algorithm is implemented in an existing display in the control room (Figure 2.98). The results were displayed to assist the operator in the decision of speeding up the rolls. The example shows the warning level (dashed yellow line) and the overshot alert level (red). The amplitudes seem to be material depended. This has to b considered in generating alarm threholds. An additional effect can be observed. During speed up all sort of eccentricities are measured, not only the coil tumble. To get reliable values a short time of constant speed is helpful.

113

Figure 2.97

Accelerometer installed at the down-coiling-unit (operator and drive side)

Figure 2.98

Visualisation of the coil-tumble results for the operator

114

2.7 Conclusions
Hot strip mill The activities carried out by CSM and TKAST in this project have concerned the realization of a virtual thermal sensor based system that, on the basis of the intelligent elaboration of data coming from the various thermal measurement devices along the line (thermocouples, pyrometers, thermal mappings,) is able to predict instabilities in rolling operation, detect quality in-consistencies and provide operators with a suitable guide for optimal processing conditions. New procedures for data acquisition and management from the various thermal devices have been developed and implemented; the installation of two new pyrometers, the first one at walking beam furnace entry and the second one at roughing mill entry, has been completed and, moreover, a new data base structure for data storing has been realised. All the temperature data of the slab/bar/strip have been related on length basis in order to com-pare directly the thermal status in different locations along the mill and the acquisition frequency from some devices has been revised to have a sufficient number of data for the elaboration. An online soft sensor (Virtual Global Thermal Indicator) has been further developed and implemented to give support to operators by providing intelligent information about the whole thermal characteristics of the slab/bar/strip and the concerned rolling stability. Guidelines to manage the process in case of thermal inconsistencies have been made available to operators. A dedicated user-friendly interface (Skid Analyzer) has been designed, developed and implemented, following the suggestions of the plant operators and technicians involved in the project, in order to provide diagnostic information as clearly and immediately as possible. The realised interface has been proven to properly deliver thermal rundown and associated diagnostic information and consequently it has been upgraded according to the operator and technician suggestions. A real time alarm system, based on the defined diagnostic rules, able to provide automatic intelligent visual and voice alarms on the pulpit along the mill, has been developed and implemented. The coded diagnostic rules has been tested and validated online during normal hot strip mill production and, at the same time, the system (software and hardware) reliability and robustness has been verified. Finally, the virtual thermal sensor based system has been released to the plant operators/technicians and it is currently used. Tandem mill The system developed for tandem mills by ACERALIA and UNIOVI allows to create data-based models from any kind of facility of system where it be installed. In this project, the system has been installed in the Tandem 2 tin plate cold rolling mill located in the ArcelorMittal facilities sited in Avils (Spain). Basically, the developed tool has two modes of working: Idle run and Normal working. The IDLE RUN mode will aid in obtaining information about eccentricity and general condition of the rolls and the mill without the influence of the strip being rolled. After selecting a speed about 500 m/min speed, 500 t. rolling force, rolls in direct contact. Once the acquisition is launched the roll force values are acquired and the surrounding of signal is evaluated and represented in figures the maximum, minimum and standard deviation obtained. Also, Fast Fourier Transformed (FFT) is represented of motor, operator and total force of every stand. Also FFT of correspondent accelerometer is presented. With application technicians are able to follow the behaviour of roll before begin and during the backup rolls campaign. Also, the behaviour of work rolls can be tracked with this tool. The aim of NORMAL RUN mode is the obtaining and the monitoring of mill status. These statuses will match with several defects of the mill and by means of rules, extracted by technical experience and in automatic way, help in the quit solution of mill difficulties.

115

Several tools have been developed in order to allow the applications of data mining techniques directly from the system without the need of exporting data for further Knowledge Data Discovery (KDD) techniques. The tool was provided with several soft-computing and statistical techniques as: Self- Organized Maps (SOM), Table Lens, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Probability Density Function (pdf) and more. As complement, the SOM models developed have the possibility to be run on-line with a pointer showing the current status of the mill. This observation is used by technician by using a rule-based tool for obtaining information about what is needed for doing the transition from the current status (if is considered bad) to the good one. During the elaboration of models it was found several conditions in the mill that confirmed the good working of the tool. It is clear that such a tool must be used as dynamic tool in the mill because a wrong condition is not a usual condition of the mill (fortunately) so many time should be needed for having a complete collection of bad conditions and its related rules for solved them. Temper mill The main focus of BFI, IMS and RASSELSTEIN in this project has been the development of strategies and methods for automatic and systematic quality defect detection in temper mills. Therefore several modules were developed and tested at the temper mill NWW 4 of RASSSELSTEIN. The diagnosis system K.O.P.F. was established with high sample rates of 5000 Hz for eight acceleration signals, three thickness signals and two roll speed signals. The signals are used for an automatic defect cause determination, considering 39 defect frequencies of the plant (besides the eigen-frequencies, all defect frequencies are speed depended recalculated). The used warn and alarm thresholds can be determined automatic by an separate module. Therefore an arbitrary amount of coils is used as basis. The automatic identification/differentiation of incoming and local produced periodic thickness faults gives information which periodic thickness defects are produced in the local plant and which defects are produced in an previous plant. This knowledge is useful for process optimization and maintenance purpose. The backup rolls of the NWW 4 had often chatter marks with a wavelength of 18 mm which reduced the lifetime of the backup rolls. The developed chatter compensation system eliminates the chatter phenomena of 18 mm wavelength successful on the backup rolls at the NWW 4. Strong coil tumbling at the down coiler causes scratches on the strip surface. Therefore a soft-sensor for coil tumble detection was developed which uses the signals of the two additional installed acceleration sensors. With the extended methods for control performance monitoring a CPM analysis of the thickness controls and flatness controls of the NWW 4 was done. The method of the dynamic fingerprint was developed and used to different data of the temper mill (vibration as well as process signals). By analysis in frequency domain and order domain it is possible to separate the eigen-behaviour of the plant and the speed-proportional vibration sources. A measure of the general condition of the plant is the result of the eigen-behaviour monitoring. The monitoring of the individual components gives a failure or wear analysis for maintenance (gearings, bearings, rolls).

2.8 Exploitations and impact of the research results

Hot strip mill The soft-sensor virtual global indicator is running at the hot strip mill of TKAST. The developed system helps the operators to keep the rolling conditions stable at a high level of quality. Through the early error detection counter measures can be activated in time, to avoid serious quality degradations or process instabilities. The developed methods can transferred to other host strip mills.

116

In the future the virtual global indicator will be improved in terms of informations visualisation and improvements in the warn- alarm module. Tandem mill The developed system for tandem mills is running at the Tandem 2 tin plate cold rolling mill of ACERALIA. The system is useful to keep a constant high level of production quality. The system delivers a fast classification of the actual process condition and allows online an visual correlations analysis of defect causes. Bad process conditions are diagnosed online and can be overcome through the rule based approach. It is planned to extend the usage of the system to an other plant of ACERALIA. Temper mill The developed methods have been tested at the temper mill NWW 4 of RASSELSTEIN. The diagnosis system K.O.P.F. is implemented and connected to the SQL-Server at the NNW 4. The included chatter compensation system is eliminating the 18mm chatter phenomena of the backup rolls. In case of modifications of the plant the diagnosis system should be adapted. The developed methods are transferable to other temper mills.

117

List of figures
Figure 3.1 Figure 3.2 Figure 3.3 Figure 3.4 Figure 3.5 Figure 3.6 Figure 3.7 Figure 3.8 Figure 3.9 Figure 3.10 Figure 3.11 Figure 3.12 Figure 3.13 Figure 3.14 Figure 3.15 TKAST Hot Strip Mill layout .......................................................................................................... 17 Principle of component supervision with frequency analysis .......................................................... 21 Basic hardware architecture for thermal analysis system................................................................. 22 Cabinet with acquisition computer and wiring of field signals ........................................................ 23 Temperature measurement at the roughing mill exit before (A) and after (B) the revision of the procedures acquisition...................................................................................................................... 25 Bar temperature measurement at the entry of the active panels by the scanning pyrometer in the centre, drive and operator side ......................................................................................................... 25 Temperature measurement at the finishing mill entry before (A) and after (B) the revision of the procedures acquisition...................................................................................................................... 26 Block diagram of a generic IIR filter ............................................................................................... 26 Comparison between filtered and not filtered temperature measurements ...................................... 27 TKAST HSM plant layout with new distribution (position and type) of the temperature measurement devices ....................................................................................................................... 28 Internal structure of the acquisition application ............................................................................... 29 Main window of the acquisition application with secondary windows............................................ 30 Example of the measured data at the rolling mill: rolling speed, accelerations on the top of the stand, at the upper backup roll, and at the gear unit ......................................................................... 31 Spectrogram of an acceleration signal during speed up, sum of the frequency spectrum (left), and time signal (bottom) ......................................................................................................................... 32 Visualization space as map of the recorded states of the process. The four graphs represent the same process map with different information coded with colors in the background. The represented points correspond to projected feature vectors of the process obtained from recorded data: three coils, identified by three different symbols. ..................................................................................... 34 Input feature space (D) and visualization space (V) showing direct and inverse mappings, with the image M of V in D and, the projection of a feature vector x and its residual using the surface M as a model............................................................................................................................................. 35 Diagram of the data analysis application. ........................................................................................ 36 Main window of the data analysis application, showing a distance map (up left), six component planes with the projections of data corresponding to several coils (right), a scatter plot (middle left) and a time graph with a cursor to display numerical values of the variables in the table in its left. 37 Time graph with variables grouped by units. In the selected mode the colors identify the variables. In addition the topmost variable has been selected to be represented in a separate vertical axis and shows up the different source coils with different symbols. ............................................................ 37 Offline visualization of defect frequencies ...................................................................................... 39 Offline analysis of defect frequencies: zoomed frequency spectrum of gear box frequencies......... 39 Visualisation of diagnosis results over coil length........................................................................... 39 Temperature measurements along the production line revised according to the project scope........ 42 Head and Tail average temperature elaboration............................................................................... 45 Example of Skid indicator elaboration ............................................................................................. 45 Limit values for the thermal indicator Temperature Media (IT1)................................................. 46 On-line SOM model. The magenta spot in the upper right corner is the projection of the instantaneous feature vector. As background is the distance map, which shows 8 large conditions. The size of the regions is proportional to the number of samples for the corresponding condition in the training set. ................................................................................................................................. 47 Diagram of the model manager application ..................................................................................... 48 Model Manager application main window, showing several component planes, a thresholded distance map (blue=conditions/low-distances and red=boundaries/high-distances) with its slider to select interactively the value of the threshold (top left corner) and a regular distance map (under it) ......................................................................................................................................................... 48 Model Manager showing a map of mill conditions, a transition between two conditions and the associated (example) rules ............................................................................................................... 49 Consistency of local and overall quality indicators: map of the thickness rms................................ 51

Figure 3.16

Figure 3.17 Figure 3.18

Figure 3.19

Figure 3.20 Figure 3.21 Figure 3.22 Figure 3.23 Figure 3.24 Figure 3.25 Figure 3.26 Figure 3.27

Figure 3.28 Figure 3.29

Figure 3.30 Figure 3.31

119

Figure 3.32

Figure 3.33 Figure 3.34 Figure 3.35 Figure 3.36 Figure 3.37 Figure 3.38 Figure 3.39 Figure 3.40 Figure 3.41 Figure 3.42 Figure 3.43 Figure 3.44 Figure 3.45 Figure 3.46 Figure 3.47 Figure 3.48 Figure 3.49 Figure 3.50 Figure 3.51 Figure 3.52 Figure 3.53 Figure 3.54 Figure 3.55 Figure 3.56 Figure 3.57 Figure 3.58 Figure 3.59

Figure 3.60

Figure 3.61

Figure 3.62 Figure 3.63 Figure 3.64 Figure 3.65 Figure 3.66 Figure 3.67 Figure 3.68

Standard deviation of rolling force vs. standard deviation of thickness: scatterplot (left top), correlation map (left bottom), thickness s.d. component plane (rigth top) andforce s.d. component plane (right bottom). Only the projections corresponding to lower quality coils are shown............ 52 Standard deviation of strip tension vs. standard deviation of thickness: scatter............................... 53 Correlations between rms values in frequency bands of rolling force and....................................... 54 Schematic representation of chatter marks on a roll ........................................................................ 55 Chatter marks on the roller surface, left: periodic form deviation, right: periodic roughness variation ........................................................................................................................................... 55 Effects of backup rolls with chatter marks on the strip .................................................................... 56 Chatter marks on a backup roll with wavelength of about 18.5 mm................................................ 57 Schema of the chatter inducing natural-mode of the roll set............................................................ 57 Spectrum-analysis of the mill vibration ........................................................................................... 57 Schema of the chatter observer for the two stand mill ..................................................................... 58 Simplistic statement of control performance assessment problems ................................................. 59 Basic procedure for control performance assessment/monitoring and diagnosis............................. 61 BFIs MATLAB offline environment (CONTROL SUPERVISOR) for performance assessment of metal processing controls................................................................................................................. 64 Amplitudes of defect frequencies of 100 coils a) 200-100Hz, b) 100-25Hz, c) 25-0Hz.................. 65 Critical rolling conditions with slip effects in the thickness signal.................................................. 65 Slipping effects during rolling through small roll forces ................................................................. 66 Detection of slipping effects during rolling: normal rolling conditions ........................................... 66 Detection of slipping effects during rolling: critical rolling conditions with slipping effects.......... 67 Spectrum-layout with spectrogram, accumulated and time-line frequency spectrum during run up of the theoretical example with 3 constant and 3 speed depended frequencies ................................... 68 Order-layout with ordergram, accumulated and time-line order spectrum during run up of the theoretical example with 3 constant and 3 speed depended frequencies.......................................... 68 Spectrum- and order-layout at constant speed of the theoretical example with 3 constant and 3 speed depended frequencies............................................................................................................. 69 Schema of the measured signals at the mill ..................................................................................... 69 Positions of the vibration measuring sensors on top of the mill housing, at the chocks of work- and backup-rolls, and at the gear units.................................................................................................... 70 Examples of process, quality and acceleration signals during rolling.............................................. 70 Spectrum-analysis of the acceleration signal of the gearbox of the hole rolling time..................... 71 Spectrum-analysis of the acceleration signal of the gearbox of the speed-up time .......................... 72 Order-analysis of the acceleration signal of the gearbox of the speed-up time................................ 72 Original (green in the top-diagrams) and rated (blue) vibration signals of the drive- and operatorside, rolling speed and rotation per time of the coiler, determined significant values of the driveside-signal (green in the bottom-diagram), the operator-side-signal (black), and the differencesignal (red) ....................................................................................................................................... 73 Results of a non-tumbling-coil: calculated dynamic-signal of the down-coiler (blue in the three upper-diagrams) and the limit of the standard-deviation (red) in relation to the rotation (red dashed vertical lines), percental deviations of the signals and frequency-related tumble-criterion (blue), spectrogram and rotation-speed of the down-coiler (blue in the bottom-diagram ........................... 74 Results of a tumbling-coil: calculated dynamic-signal of the down-coiler (blue in the three upperdiagrams) and the limit of the standard-deviation (red) in relation to the rotation (red dashed vertical lines), percent deviations of the signals and frequency-related tumble-criterion of the rotating (blue) and the double (black), spectrogram and rotation-speed of the down-coiler (blue in the bottom-diagram) and the double (black) .................................................................................... 74 Left: measurement system (above) and projector (below); Right: strip surface............................... 75 Schematic illustration of the measuring points at the temper mill NWW4 and the different conditions at the finishing line VA10, depending on the downcoiling ............................................ 76 DataViewer for the comparison of the measurements at NWW4 and VA10................................... 76 Front-end interface Skid Analyzer ................................................................................................... 78 Rolling schedule description - main characteristics of the strips under analysis.............................. 79 Virtual Thermal Global indicator..................................................................................................... 80 Operative counter measures as function of ITVG value .................................................................. 81

120

Figure 3.69 Figure 3.70 Figure 3.71 Figure 3.72 Figure 3.73

Figure 3.74 Figure 3.75 Figure 3.76

Figure 3.77

Figure 3.78 Figure 3.79 Figure 3.80 Figure 3.81 Figure 3.82 Figure 3.83 Figure 3.84 Figure 3.85 Figure 3.86 Figure 3.87 Figure 3.88 Figure 3.89 Figure 3.90

Figure 3.91

Figure 3.92 Figure 3.93 Figure 3.94 Figure 3.95 Figure 3.96 Figure 3.97 Figure 3.98

Alarm system hardware architecture................................................................................................ 83 Alarm system software architecture................................................................................................. 84 Relationships between elaborated thermal conditions and alarm procedures .................................. 86 OPC alarm client interface ............................................................................................................... 87 Correlation map (left) and scatter plot (right) of standard deviations of outputthickness and back tension in stand 5. The latter shows a significant overall positive correlation between those variables. The former confirms it but shows some states with a slightly lower positive correlation. ......................................................................................................................................................... 88 Scatter plots of vibrations vs. speed, from top to bottom and left to right, stands 1 through 5. The last one (bottom left) represents vibration in stand 4 vs. delivery thickness. ................................... 89 Spectra of rolling forces (in secondary window, from top to bottom, stands 1 through 5). ............. 90 Rolling mill state monitoring with SOM model: residual window (left), state map (top right) and feature map of the rms value of the delivery thickness (bottom right). The state map shows low quality conditions with hot colors and high quality conditions with coldcolors. The residual window show initial zero residuals (green, no coil data), then high residuals (start of a coil, transients of heads and tails not included in the model), and moderately significant residuals until the right side of the window, which corresponds to the current point in the coil. The current state pointer is in the upper left quadrant in the maps (quite small, especially in the feature map), with older positions in a paler color. ........................................................................................................ 91 Automatic state partition: 1) distance map (top left), 2) thresholded map (top right) and 3) state map (bottom right). In the latter, conditions are given a color related to the rms value of the deliverythickness within the condition, variable represented in the feature map (bottom left)........ 93 Chatter marks on backup rolls without the chatter compensation system........................................ 94 User interface for the automatic warn and alarm threshold calculation ........................................... 95 Advanced estimation of magnitudes of defect frequencies .............................................................. 96 Fingerprint-measurement at the temper mill: separation of the frequencies of eigenmodes and excitations and the possible resulting wavelength of chatter-marks ................................................ 97 Skid Analyzer integration on the existing scanning pyrometer report ............................................. 98 Skid Analyzer interface in the walking beam pulpit ........................................................................ 99 Harmonics in forces and vibration in stand 1 (from top tobottom: total force, drive side force, operator side force, vibration) ........................................................................................................ 102 Effect in forces during idle-run (4 tests) after roll change, probably caused by roll thermal expansion: forces should be constant but they describe ramps. ..................................................... 103 Correlation matrix for all the variables in the model using coils with all qualities....................... 103 Correlation matrix for all the variables in the model usingonly coils with low quality. ................ 104 Output thickness spectrogram. ....................................................................................................... 105 Output thickness spectrogram with the 1x and 2x coiler harmonics highlighted with simulation data................................................................................................................................................. 105 1.25 Hz harmonic in output thickness (frequency range shown in vertical axis: from 0 to 50 Hz; horizontal axis is time) in dark red at the bottom. Near the beginning, in a short range of time, it is substituted for a 2.2 Hz harmonic (unexplained yet). range of time, it is substituted for a 2.2 Hz harmonic (unexplained yet)............................................................................................................ 106 Residual monitoring of the effect appearing as a 1.25 Hz harmonic in output thickness. The group of residuals in blue at the top half corresponds to cooling variables, one of the two dark red ones immediately below them is the local quality indicator variable..................................................... 108 Temper mill NWW4 at Rasselstein................................................................................................ 109 Schematic view of the diagnosis system K.O.P.F. at the NWW4.................................................. 110 CPM analysis of the thickness control in stand 1........................................................................... 111 CPM analysis of the thickness control in stand 2........................................................................... 112 Online layout for incoming strip and outgoing strip characterisation ............................................ 113 Accelerometer installed at the down-coiling-unit (operator and drive side) .................................. 114 Visualisation of the coil-tumble results for the operator ................................................................ 114

121

List of Tables
Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 Requirements classification ............................................................................................................. 18 Requirement related to the thermal sensor equipment ..................................................................... 18 Requirement related to the thermal sensor acquisition..................................................................... 18 Requirement related to the thermal sensor elaboration .................................................................... 18 Requirement related to the thermal sensor operative ....................................................................... 19 Requirement related to the thermal sensor HMI .............................................................................. 19 Requirement related to the thermal sensor alarm............................................................................. 19 Requirement related to the thermal sensor post-processing analysis ............................................... 20 Description of the relevant Thermal Indicators................................................................................ 40 Rules to associate the Equivalent thermal states to the defined limit values for each thermal indicator ........................................................................................................................................... 42

123

List of references
strm K.J., Hgglund T (1995) PID Controllers: Theory, Design and Tuning. Instrument Society of America. Baart M. (2004) Entwicklung und Untersuchung von Verfahren zur Bewertung der Regelgte bei Regelkreisen mit Strgrenaufschaltung. Unpublished Diploma Thesis, BFI/University of Cologne, Germany. Desborough L., Harris T. (1993) Performance assessment measures for univariate feedforward/feedback control. Can. J. Chem. Eng. 71:605616. ECSC Research Contract 7210 - PR / 221 Diagnosis assistance for process performance, dynamic plant condition, and periodic quality defects in the cold rolling area, BFI, ACERALIA, CSM. Gorgels F., Jelali M., Lathe R., Mcke G., Mller U., Ungerer W., Wolff A. (2003) State of the art and future trends in metal processing control. Proc. METEC Congress (Europ. Rolling Confer.), Dsseldorf, Germany, pp. 393402. Harris T. (1989) Assessment of closed loop performance. Can. J. Chem. Eng. 67:856861. Jelali M., Mller U., Wolff A., Ungerer W. (2001): Advanced control strategies for rolling mills. MPT International 3:5457. Jelali M. (2006): An overview of control performance assessment technology and industrial applications. Contr. Eng. Pract. 14:94103. Seborg D.E., Edgar F.E., Mellichamp D.A. (2004) Process Dynamics and Control. Wiley & Sons.n

125

Annex 1
Condition 1. IT1 > A2 > A3 > A4 > A5 > A6 or IT1 = IT2 = IT3 = IT4 = IT5 = IT6 A =0.84 B = 0.1066 C = 0.0355 D = E = 0.00896 IT2 > B1 > B3 > B4 > B5 A =0.2436 B = 0.69 C = 0.044 D = E = 0.011 IT3 > C1 > C2 > C4 > C5 A =0.281 B = 0.153 C = 0.54 D = E = 0.0128 IT4 > D1 > D2 > D3 IT5 A =0.3948 B = 0.2156 C = 0.0714 D = 0.3 E = 0.0182 IT5 > E1 > E2 > E3 IT4 A =0.3948 B = 0.2156 C = 0.0714 D = 0.0182 E = 0.3

Condition 2.

Condition 3.

Condition 4.

Condition 5.

with: A2 = 0.978 * IT2 + 0.014 * IT3 + 0.0034 * IT4 + 0.0034 * IT5 A3 = 0.083 * IT2 + 0.9025 * IT3 + 0.0069 * IT4 + 0.0069 * IT5 A4 = 0.253 * IT2 + 0.0815 * IT3 + 0.65 * IT4 + 0.0215 * IT5 A5 = 0.253 * IT2 + 0.0815 * IT3 + 0.0215 * IT4 + 0.65 * IT5 B1 = 1.02235 * IT1 - 0.0146 * IT3 - 0.0035 * IT4 - 0.0035 * IT5 B3 = 0.06965 * IT1 + 0.924 * IT3 + 0.00335 * IT4 + 0.00335 * IT5 B4 = 0.3195 * IT1 + 0.0577 * IT3 + 0.6092 * IT4 + 0.0153 * IT5 B5 = 0.3195 * IT1 + 0.0577 * IT3 + 0.0153 * IT4 + 0.6092 * IT5 C1 = 1.1081 * IT1 - 0.092 * IT2 - 0.0076 * IT4 - 0.0076 * IT5 C2 = -0.0754 * IT1 + 1.0827 * IT2 - 0.00363 * IT4 - 0.00363 * IT5 C4 = 0.2428 * IT1 + 0.1336 * IT2 + 0.613 * IT4 + 0.0115 * IT5 C5 = 0.2428 * IT1 + 0.1336 * IT2 + 0.0115 * IT4 + 0.613 * IT5 D1 = 1.53 * IT1 - 0.374 * IT2 - 0.123 * IT3 - 0.0317 * IT5 D2 = -0.523 * IT1 + 1.6416 * IT2 - 0.095 * IT3 - 0.0249 * IT5 D3 = -0.396 * IT1 - 0.218 * IT2 + 1.632 * IT3 - 0.0188 * IT5 E1 = 1.53 * IT1 - 0.374 * IT2 - 0.123 * IT3 - 0.0317 * IT4 E2 = -0.523 * IT1 + 1.6416 * IT2 - 0.095 * IT3 - 0.0249 * IT4 E3 = -0.396 * IT1 - 0.218 * IT2 + 1.632 * IT3 - 0.0188 * IT4

127

Annex 2
Table 1.- Process computer variables: from 1 to 47, one sample per coil;from 48 on, one sample per second during rolling. #

VARIABLE

UNITS

Definitions

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53

Coil Number Date Hour Kind of Material (Yield Strength) Upper Back up roll stand 1 number Lower Back up roll stand 1 number Upper Work roll stand 1 number Lower Work roll stand 1 number Upper Back up roll stand 1 diameter Lower Back up roll stand 1 diameter Upper Work roll stand 1 diameter Lower Work roll stand 1 diameter Upper Back up roll stand 2 number Lower Back up roll stand 2 number Upper Work roll stand 2 number Lower Work roll stand 2 number Upper Back up roll stand 2 diameter Lower Back up roll stand 2 diameter Upper Work roll stand 2 diameter Lower Work roll stand 2 diameter Upper Back up roll stand 3 number Lower Back up roll stand 3 number Upper Work roll stand 3 number Lower Work roll stand 3 number Upper Back up roll stand 3 diameter Lower Back up roll stand 3 diameter Upper Work roll stand 3 diameter Lower Work roll stand 3 diameter Upper Back up roll stand 4 number Lower Back up roll stand 4 number Upper Work roll stand 4 number Lower Work roll stand 4 number Upper Back up roll stand 4 diameter Lower Back up roll stand 4 diameter Upper Work roll stand 4 diameter Lower Work roll stand 4 diameter Upper Back up roll stand 5 number Lower Back up roll stand 5 number Upper Work roll stand 5 number Lower Work roll stand 5 number Upper Back up roll stand 5 diameter Lower Back up roll stand 5 diameter Upper Work roll stand 5 diameter Lower Work roll stand 5 diameter Width Input Target Thickness (EOE) Output Target Thickness (EOS) Coolant Temperature D.A. Concentration D.A. Temperature Forward slip stand 1 Forward slip stand 2 Forward slip stand 3

alphanumeric code of coils ddmmaa hh:mm:ss alphanumeric code of material identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll mm. mm. mm. mm. identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll mm. mm. mm. mm. identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll mm. mm. mm. mm. identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll mm. mm. mm. mm. identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll identification number of roll mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. microns microns C % C % % %

water temperature inside coolant tanks direct application emulsion concentration direct application emulsion temperature

128

54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

Forward slip stand 4 Forward slip stand 5 Strip Temperature Roll Bending stand 1 pressure Roll Bending stand 2 pressure Roll Bending stand 3 pressure Roll Bending stand 4 pressure Roll Bending stand 5 pressure Top Backup roll stand 1 rolled length Bottom Backup roll stand 1 rolled length Work rolls stand 1 rolled lengthbrujita Top Backup roll stand 2 rolled length Bottom Backup roll stand 2 rolled length Work rolls stand 2 rolled length Top Backup roll stand 3 rolled length Bottom Backup roll stand 3 rolled length Work rolls stand 3 rolled length Top Backup roll stand 4 rolled length Bottom Backup roll stand 4 rolled length Work rolls stand 4 rolled length Top Backup roll stand 5 rolled length Bottom Backup roll stand 5 rolled length Work rolls stand 5 rolled length Stand 1 Percentage Centre Coolant Stand 1 Percentage Intermediate Coolant Stand 2 Percentage Centre Coolant Stand 2 Percentage Intermediate Coolant Stand 3 Percentage Centre Coolant Stand 3 Percentage Intermediate Coolant Stand 4 Percentage Centre Coolant Stand 4 Percentage Intermediate Coolant Stand 5 Percentage Centre Coolant Stand 5 Percentage Intermediate Coolant Temperature 3-4 Temperature 4-5 Percentage of rolled material within 0,3% thickness tolerance

% % C t t t t t Km Km Km Km Km Km Km Km Km Km Km Km Km Km Km % % % % % % % % % % C C %

length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since length rolled since

last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change last roll change

Table 2.- Analog signals acquired by the three data acquisition boards # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

VARIABLES
Input thicknes stand 1 Speed stand 1 Speed stand 2 Speed stand 3 Speed stand 4 Speed stand 5 Force stand 1 Operator side Force stand 1 Motor side Force stand 2 Operator side Force stand 2 Motor side Force stand 3 Operator side Force stand 3 Motor side Force stand 4 Operator side Force stand 4 Motor side Force stand 5 Operator side Force stand 5 Motor side Accelerometer stand 1

UNITS
% m/min m/min m/min m/min m/min t t t t t t t t t t g

Definitions
relative deviation

located on mill top

129

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Accelerometer stand 2 Accelerometer stand 3 Accelerometer stand 4 Accelerometer stand 5 Tension stand 1-2 Tension stand 2-3 Tension stand 3-4 Tension stand 4-5 Output thickess stand 5 (gauge 1) Output thickness stand 5 (gauge 2) Output thickness stand 1 Output hickness stand 2

g g g g t t t t % % % %

located on mill top located on mill top located on mill top located on mill top

relative deviation relative deviation relative deviation relative deviation

130

Annex 3
CAPABILITIES OF SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS

Summary of online application capabilities

z

Data acquisition and database storing

Rolling data Idle-run data

Real time monitoring / offline data displaying

Time plots Spectra SOM model graphs

+ + + + +

Component planes (maps) Distance map Condition map Residual graph Time plot of process features

Other:

Statistics of forces and vibrations (mean, standard deviation, maximum, minimum) Labels of roll characteristic frequencies

Summary of offline analysis application capabilities

z

Feature extraction from process data:

Mean values Standard deviations RMS values RMS values in frequency bands, fixed and variable (multiples of roll characteristic frequencies) Compound or derived variables (simple algebraic expressions)

Data visualizations:

Time plot Table lens Scatter plot Probability density function (PDF) scatter plot PCA (Overall) Correlation matrix SOM maps: component, distance and correlation maps Other: spectrogram, roll-change table.

Data analysis/visualization tools:

Variable or coil discarding Adding of compound or derived variables Sample grouping:

+

Coils

131

+ + +

Graphic selection Range of variable values Samples at the beginning/end of coils (coil head/tail)

Sample-group operations:
+ + +

Hide/show Delete/undelete Change look (color/mark)

Other:
+ + + +

Variable grouping in different vertical axes (time plot/table lens) Identification and finding of individual samples Identification of individual variables in time plot/table lens Labeled marks for horizontal axis in time plot/table lens

Summary of model manager application capabilities

z

Model generation from feature extraction data:

SOM model for process maps CART model for condition-transition rules

SOM maps:

Components Distances Thresholded distances Conditions

z z z

Semi-automatic partition and labeling of the process map in conditions Coils/conditions statistics Condition-transition rule managing:

Automatic/manual rules Validated/non-validated rules

132

European Commission EUR 23893 I ntelligent soft-sensor technology and automatic model-based diagnosis for improved quality, control and maintenance of mill production lines (Softdetect) J. Polzer, M. Markworth, M. Jelali, J. L. Redueles, F. Sanfilippo, M. Lupinelli, L. Onofri, J. Busch, P. Michels, A. Diez, A. Cuadrado Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 2009 132 pp. 21 29.7 cm Research Fund for Coal and Steel series ISBN 978-92-79-11980-4 ISSN 1018-5593 Price (excluding VAT) in Luxembourg: EUR 20