Method and apparatus for controlling rolling process in hot strip finish rolling mill

A method for controlling a hot strip finish rolling mill comprising the steps of:

• continuously measuring sheet profiles at an inlet side and an outlet side of a selected rolling stand;
• determining a mechanical crown of the selected rolling stand based on a measured rolling load detected when rolling a sheet with the selected rolling stand of the hot strip finish rolling mill;
• and
• updating, based on the measured sheet profiles and the determined mechanical crown, an imprinting ratio of said mechanical crown of a sheet profile control model and a crown heredity coefficient of a sheet profile on the inlet side of the selected rolling stand.

A hot strip finish rolling mill comprising:

• a plurality of sequentially disposed rolling stands;
• a sheet profile meter positioned downstream of a selected one of the plurality of rolling stands, a sheet thickness of a rolled sheet at an outlet side of the selected rolling stand being at a percentage sheet crown critical sheet thickness;
• and
• a control system determining an error measure between a desired sheet profile and an actual sheet profile measured by the sheet profile meter, the control system operating at least one of a downstream set of rolling stands using feed-forward control and an upstream set of rolling stands using feedback control based on the error measure.