VeriShape is developed for hot rolling applications. It is a concept as much as a product. The concept solves five difficulties in hot rolling lines.

Main advantages

A VeriShape system can be calibrated under hot conditions during production. No line-stop, heavy flatness references or work on the roller table is required. This has a number of advantages such as:

  • Reduction/elimination of line down-time
  • Elimination of hazardous and difficult work on the roller table
  • Calibration and adjustments are done under real production conditions
  • System installation can be done without line-stop

Thanks to the mechanical design, the gauge is tolerant for shape variations of supporting mechanics, which always occur in hot rolling lines due to temperature variations. This greatly improves robustness and reliability.

The technology used is the same as for all our systems and sensors, laser line triangulation. Thanks to this, no sensor movements are required to compensate for width changes or material centerline side-shifts. Instead, both centerline position and width are measured and are also output parameters.

Our unique flatness measurement platform, ShapeCAT is designed to cope with the high-speed requirements of a full-speed hot strip mill. This means that flatness data at a resolution of 25*25 mm is generated also at a line speed of 25 m/s. In width direction, the full resolution is nearly 4000 points for a strip line and a lot higher for wide plate lines.

Heat shimmering due to high temperature gradients is the most limiting factor to precision measurement in hot strip lines. A VeriShape system utilizes methods to remove these gradients.

Unsurpassed accuracy

High resolution in length, width and height directions

Measures I-units, crossbow, ski, shape, width and off-center Service mode for maintenance and calibration without line-stop

Remote diagnostics and maintenance

Robust design, no moving parts

Integrated cooling and air-purging Integrated diagnostics system

Quick replacement of critical components

Customizable to generate a variety of output data, depending on customer requirements

Applications:

Mill control (4-high, Steckle or tandem)

Optimization of laminar cooling and quenching

Hot plate leveler control

Documentation of material flatness for down-stream lines

How it works

VeriShape is at its very core based on ShapeSoft 3, the customizable flatness processing software in combination with the field proven Shapeline vibration compensated laser triangulation technology and ShapeCAT, the unrivaled smart camera technology. ShapeSoft 3 is capable of 1D, 2D and interactive 3D presentation of the measurement data in real-time as well as providing real-time I-units and topographical data for closed loop control. ShapeCAT will deliver measurement data at high-resolution also in a hot strip mill running at 25 m/s.

The VeriShape configuration features an ever present filtered low pressure air-flow for cooling of vital components as well as constant air purging of the optical components. VeriShape is designed to be located 2-3 m above the strip either in a gauge house or on a heat shielded platform.

By using the safe off-line mode, installation as well as service and calibration of a VeriShape system can be done without any stop in production. The service mode eliminates the requirement to perform any work on or near the roller table. It also allows calibration while the mill is in full production mode. A high air flow heat evacuation fan is used in the measuring zone to minimize the impact from heat shimmer and steam in the laser path.

The most powerful component of the VeriShape system is its software, the ShapeSoft 3. Based on decades of experience and refinement of the core processing algorithms and the stable yet customizable user interface, the system can be used as a real-time flatness gauge for closed loop process feedback, an off-line quality evaluation tool against industry standards, or anything in-between.

By installing two VeriShape gauges, (e.g. one before and one after laminar cooling), the measured data can be combined to visualize how the process influences flatness. The software separates crossbow and waves (I-units) into individual data-sets why it is possible to correlate process parameters with crossbow and I-units separately.

To meet different requirements on output data formats, VeriShape has a configurable communication interface. The gauge can output flatness data in real-time as fibers (any number), polynomials, vectors or scalars over Ethernet (TCP-IP, UDP, Profinet), Profibus or analog outputs (-10…10 V or 4…20 mA). The update frequency exceeds 200 Hz. Measurement files containing the complete measurement data can be saved to the steel producer’s file-system and/or to ShapeAccess, a RAID configured file & database server using Microsoft SQL.

Product video

References

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