To reduce longitudinal gauge deviations of the head sections at the hot strip mill rolling it is reasonable to profile band of variable thickness due to the length provided by the linear motion of the screw-down arrangements under load. The paper considers the structure of the automatic gauge control system (ACGS) of the indirect type. It estimates the accuracy of screw-down arrangement position control in the single-loop automatic position control system. It also justifies the use of automatic position combined control system. The introduction of the additional channel of control due to the first derivative of the reference input signal was proved to provide the required accuracy values of the strip gauge control. The paper presents data of the pilot study of the developed system at OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works' mill 2,000; they confirm its efficiency.

The manufacture of hot-rolled strips 0.8–1.5 mm in thickness as a final product of metallurgical works necessitates strict requirements for gage interference of the strip, namely, with a tolerance of...

Implementing digital technologies and digital twins (DT) in operating industrial units is one of the key problems in smart production. Metallurgical plants require a solution to implement in the rolling mill retrofitting. A conceptual approach to the virtual configuration of industrial mechatronic complexes based on object-oriented digital twins-prototypes and twins-instances of electromechanical and hydraulic systems is justified. Alternative options for virtual commissioning (VC) were considered, and the Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) option was adopted, involving the implementation of DTs in the hardware and software of a programmable logic controller (PLC). Virtual models were built, and control algorithms were tested in the Matlab Simulink software; the prospect of using Simscape domains was noted. The paper’s contribution is the description of a methodology for the development of object-oriented DTs, interlinked in the process, exemplified by a rolling mill coiler. The results of the control over the ‘virtual reeling’ mode are provided; the adequacy of real and virtual processes is confirmed. The problem of developing DTs for a coiler group, solved herein, is a fragment of a large-scale scientific and practical problem of developing DTAs (digital twin aggregates) for interconnected mechatronic rolling mill complexes. The developed VC methodology and proposed DTs are recommended for the commercial implementation in various industrial units. Developing frameworks of mechatronic systems and multi-domain DTE (Digital Twin Environment) applications are shown as prospects for future research.