A new Christian Doppler laboratory that was opened at the Vienna University of Technology in May will co-operate with voestalpine Stahl in research on control of production processes in the steel industry.
Mathematical models will be used to describe and optimise production processes, and to correct them in real-time. The steel industry works with heavy machinery and correspondingly large energy expenditure. This is compounded by heat, dust, steam, strong electromagnetic fields and vibrations generated during the production process. Despite this, plates must be produced at the required thicknesses with a very high degree of precision, or a minimum zinc coating thickness must be guaranteed.
At the CD-Laboratory for Model-Based Process Control in the Steel Industry, scientists plan to integrate new research findings into the production process at steel mills. Over the coming years, they will develop mathematical models describing the processes involved in hot rolling and hot dip galvanizing, based on the fundamental principles of physics. The scientists aim to develop extremely precise yet sufficiently simple models as the basis for computer simulations that can then be used to make flexible changes to the processes. Special equipment to test production parameters and develop processes in a targeted manner will also be built to understand specific processes better.
