Precise and efficient thickness measuring systems for hot rolling

Micro-Epsilon: The thicknessCONTROL MTS 820x and MTS 920x thickness measuring systems from Micro-Epsilon offer a new and efficient solution for measurement tasks in hot rolling mills. They enable high precision measurements on thick and thin materials and are considered more precise and efficient than X-ray devices.

The material thickness decreases during the rolling process and so needs to be monitored. In this respect, high requirements are placed on the measurement technology used, which must not only measure thick, but also thin materials with consistent precision. To date, this application could have been solved only using X-ray devices. However, these involve high purchasing and operational costs but also other disadvantages. With changing alloys, they need to be recalibrated and they lose accuracy with increasing material thickness.

The high precision thicknessCONTROL MTS 820x and MTS 920x thickness measuring systems from Micro-Epsilon offer a new and efficient application solution. Their innovative technology enables extremely precise measurements on both thick and thin materials. Furthermore, they are insensitive to harsh industrial environments, heat and vapors that occur while emulsions are applied. The sensors are equipped with a cooling unit that enables them to perform thermally stable measurements. In addition, hot surfaces require a large measuring range so that the sensors can be placed at a safe distance from the object.

The thickness measuring systems operate using special laser line scanners. These are integrated in the upper beams of the O- and C-frames and have two sequential measuring ranges. Two lenses and two matrices in the scanner divide the measuring range into two sections. This is how the thickness measuring systems operate in different accuracy ranges. With a material thickness of 400 mm, these systems achieve 10 times higher accuracy than conventional X-ray devices. Unlike X-ray devices, recalibration is not necessary with changing alloys.