Influence of process variables on development of camber during hot rolling of strip steel

Experimental design techniques have been used to study the effects of variations in horizontal scale breaker process parameters in relation to camber generation during the early reduction stages in a hot strip mill. A fractional factorial experiment was designed and performed to identify which process variables are most influential to camber generation. The parameters which emerge from this analysis as being significant are: slab wedge, temperature differentials across the strip width, the deviation of the slab from the mill centreline, and mill tilt. A full factorial experiment was then designed and performed to further investigate these significant process parameters to determine where to set influential and controllable variables so that camber is minimised. The results show that none of the process parameters is significant to camber generation when acting alone; however, they are all significant when combined with one or two other process parameters. This study has enabled a predictive equation to be developed which is able to predict camber to within ±4 mm. This equation may be used in conjunction with mill tilting strategies to reduce camber in the early reduction stages of a hot strip mill.