Adaptive control for industry: Feedforward control for metal rolling mills
International Journal of Adaptive Control and Signal Processing, 13 (2):
71-83 (March 1999)Abstract
The paper examines the use of adaptive feedforward control in the hot rolling of steel. It shows that, due to the limitations of measurements and the distributed nature of the process, hot rolling is ideally suited to feedforward control. In order to ensure the best possible performance in the presence of plant uncertainty and time-varying plant behaviour, adaptive techniques are utilized. Three case studies are presented showing various applications of adaptive feedforward control in use on real mills in various parts of the world. The first addresses the threading of the steel through a finishing train, the next concerns gauge control along the length of the strip while the last examines inter-stand control of temperature.