EuroWire March 2025

Technical Article

The latest roll stand calibration system By Giuseppe E Marcantoni (general manager, Properzi International) and Valerio Zanelletti (spare parts manager, Continuus-Properzi SpA)

Wire rod producers strive to accomplish this through a host of good manufacturing practices while utilising the most modern tools that are available on the market. Properzi’s newest tool for calibrating the work rolls within Properzi rolling trains is the E-Vision System. This new system provides an enlarged image ( Figure 1 ) of the work rolls mounted in a given rolling stand and specifically highlights the cavity between the work rolls, in order to measure the position of each roll and facilitate the calibration of the work rolls. During the calibration procedure, the operator adjusts the position of each work roll in the rolling stand through a repeated trial and test sequence consisting of manual adjustments and verifications of the desired roll position, until all the roll profiles are properly aligned relative to each other and are perfectly centred with respect to the rolling axis. The E-Vision System provides a digitalised, more advanced alternative to the traditional Optical Projector Systems (types CP5, CP8, CP10 and CP20) that were previously supplied to facilitate the work roll calibration operation (Figure 2) . The system makes the work roll calibration procedure faster, easier, less subjective and more accurate. The system comprises two elements, the camera assembly and the backlight assembly, which are mounted on the rolling stand that is to be calibrated ( Figure 3 ). These elements are smaller, lighter and easier to handle than the corresponding elements of traditional optical projectors. A 12" tablet, supplied with the system, provides a higher resolution image of the area that is crucial to the calibration of the rolls. Its application software delivers several new powerful features, including zooming in and out, graduated reference grids, centring and rotation of the image, reference target profile and tolerance bands.

Continuus-Properzi has been supplying equipment and technology for the continuous casting and rolling of non-ferrous metals for more than 75 years. The company states that the spirit of innovation that is rooted in its DNA drives it to develop solutions that fulfil market requirements and customer requests. One of the latest innovations is in the field of maintenance – specifically process maintenance related to rolling stand calibration. The key to producing high quality wire rod is maintaining a stable process where all the process variables are kept within acceptable limits.

Figure 1

Figure 2

The tablet works completely wirelessly, giving the operator freedom to choose the most effective viewing position while executing the necessary calibration operations. The entire E-Vision System for calibration of the rolling train is contained in two carrying cases. One case, designated as VR CPx (the x number depending upon the system model), houses the optical group. The different system models correspond to the rolling stand models on which the calibration is to be done.

Figure 3

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March 2025