TPT September 2008

3.1.2 Parameters for technological functions Together with the calculation of the speed data for the motors, the parameters for the technological functions are determined. Each technological function, described in the chapter ‘TecBox’, has a set of parameters in order to adjust the system best. Only the most necessary set of parameters is presented to the customer for manual adjustments. All other parameters are determined by the program in relation to the pass design, size and wall thickness. For example, factors for the HEC depend on the number of rolling stands used for the specific product.

3.1.3 Roll set management Conventional stretch reducing mills with group drives and non- adjustable stands have many stands whereas the new Kocks SRB has roll sets for the whole production schedule, but needs only few stands. After rolling, the roll sets are dismounted from the stands and new roll sets for a different product are mounted. Therefore, a very important function is roll management, which means machining, re-machining, and modification to a different position in the pass schedule. For the remote control system, the knowledge of the installed roll system is also necessary to determine the adjustment values.

 Figure 2 : Modules for administration and configuration

Different users can have different rights in the system such as ‘read only’ or ‘administrator’ to protect modules from unauthorized access.

3.1.1 Products The products module is the central module to operate the stretch reducing block. The user can define different products, which can be related to different rolling cycles (figure 3). These cycles are used to arrange products in groups. Grouping can be achieved in relation to the rolling plan in the mill or with reference to grade, size, and wall thickness. Other criteria can be easily selected by the customer.

3.1.3.1 Roll history All steps of the lifecycle of the roll sets in the SRB can be managed with the Tumicon mill manager.

 Figure 3 : Screen of product definition

Roll definition In the roll definition module, suitable passes are defined for all products with regard to the pass design; Tumicon automatically performs this activity. Normally, the list of passes is created by Kocks. However, the user can define their own passes, eg for a different free-size range or different finished sizes. Ordering of roll sets By using the order function in the roll definition module, a new roll set is inserted in the roll inventory module. Tumicon allows manual designation of the individual roll sets, but the use of automatic numbering (standard description) with a unique identifier is recommended. It is possible to create a list of rolls to be ordered to obtain the new roll sets from a supplier. All necessary geometry data are available.

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S eptember 2008

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