Measuring thermal expansion and the thermal crown of rolls
AssigneeNovelis Inc.
InventorAntoine Jean Willy Pralong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for measuring the thermal crown of rolls in-situ (e.g., at high temperature) either inside or outside the rolling mill can include sensors that measure propagation times of mechanical waves through the rolls. In some embodiments, one or more sensors are used to measure the propagation times of ultrasonic waves traveling inside the roll and normal to the roll's axis. These measurements can be taken when the roll is still hot and can be used to determine in real-time the thermal expansion at various points along the roll.
Claims7
A system for dynamically measuring a parameter of a roll in situ within a mill, comprising:
- a measurement system for calculating the parameter of the roll using an in situ propagation time of a mechanical wave propagating through the roll at an in situ temperature of the roll during operation and a stored reference propagation time of a reference mechanical wave propagating through the roll measured at a reference temperature of the roll, the measurement system comprising:
- a transmitter positioned with respect to the roll to generate the mechanical wave in the roll substantially normal to a longitudinal axis of the roll;
- and
- a receiver positioned with respect to the roll to receive the mechanical wave after propagating through the roll;
- and
- a processor to measure the in situ propagation time of the mechanical wave through the roll generated by the transmitter and received by the receiver;
- wherein the measurement system is operable to compare the in situ propagation time of the mechanical wave propagating through the roll at the in situ temperature and the reference propagation time of the mechanical wave propagating through the roll at the reference temperature to determine the parameter, the parameter is selected from the group consisting of an average temperature of the roll at the in situ temperature of the roll and a change in diameter of the roll between the reference temperature and the in situ temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.