Tecnologia em Metalurgia, Materiais e Mineração (Oct 2014)

SIMULATION TOOL OF VELOCITY AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES IN THE ACCELERATED COOLING PROCESS OF HEAVY PLATES

  • Antônio Adel dos Santos,
  • Cristóvão Nery Giacomin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4322/tmm.2014.035
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 3
pp. 236 – 243

Abstract

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The aim of this paper was to develop and apply mathematical models for determining the velocity and temperature profiles of heavy plates processed by accelerated cooling at Usiminas’ Plate Mill in Ipatinga. The development was based on the mathematical/numerical representation of physical phenomena occurring in the processing line. Production data from 3334 plates processed in the Plate Mill were used for validating the models. A user-friendly simulation tool was developed within the Visual Basic framework, taking into account all steel grades produced, the configuration parameters of the production line and these models. With the aid of this tool the thermal profile through the plate thickness for any steel grade and dimensions can be generated, which allows the tuning of online process control models. The simulation tool has been very useful for the development of new steel grades, since the process variables can be related to the thermal profile, which affects the mechanical properties of the steels.

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