Automatic flatness, shape and gauge control, and latest hardware and software, feature in a number of orders for rolling mill upgrades won by IAS, Australia.

Norandal USA signed an agreement with industrial automation Services (IAS) to supply and commission a new mill setup model, new hot edge sprays and improved shape control technology for the Six-High Cold Mill at Huntingdon, Tennessee, USA. The advanced mill setup technology incorporates software and hardware to optimise mill threading operations, reduce end yield losses and in conjunction with the hot edge spray control and upgraded shape control, improve mill throughput. The scope of supply also includes new segmented spray bars, a coolant heater and associated engineering to locate the new equipment.

The integrated solution from IAS incorporates equipment from United States Controls, Schneider filtration systems and Tinker Equipment Company.

Ormet Aluminum Mill Products Corporation, rolling mill Division, Hannibal, Ohio, USA, has signed an agreement with IAS, to design, supply and commission a replacement hydraulic gap control, automatic gauge control, and shape control system for their Bliss 4 high cold mill.

This mill is a key element of the Hannibal Rolling Mill.

The open architecture control system incorporates IAS’s easy to maintain graphical programming interface, and takes advantage of IAS’s considerable process know-how and local support.

The scope of supply also includes new mill mechanical ‘top hats’ to accommodate and protect new Inductosyn position transducers and a new shape roll transducer box interfacing to an existing (Davy) Shape Technology.

Vidimon airbearing roll.

Engineering design, project management, installation assistance, commissioning, operator/maintenance training, and a twelve month online maintenance contract will be executed from IAS’s offices in Pittsburgh, PA.

The integrated solution from IAS incorporates equipment from Shape Technology.

This order further strengthens the relationship with Ormet for whom IAS/Broner carried out the last two mill upgrades.

Ormet Aluminum Mill Products Corporation, Rolling Mill Division, Hannibal, Ohio, USA since placed two additional orders IAS to design, supply and commission replacement control systems on their two stand tandem cold mill and their three stand tandem hot mill.

These two additional orders follow after the recently received single stand cold mill HGC/AGC/AFC upgrade order.

The scope of supply for the 2 stand cold mill is to replace the existing Mannesmann/Broner ‘MARAS’ control with a new IAS system for HGC/AGC and automatic flatness control.

The scope for the 3 stand tandem hot mill is again to replace the existing Mannesmann/Broner ‘MARAS’ control with a new IAS system performing HGC/AGC, along with interstand tension control.

Both control upgrades involve replacing the existing Motorola CPUs with Intel PCs on VME while maintaining the existing I/O cards and interface.

The control code upgrade involves replacing the Sun/Unix based ‘MARAS’ development system with IAS’s Windows based IOWorks graphical development/maintenance environment using ladder logic and function blocks running on VXWorks based realtime Intel CPUs.