ANÁLISE DOS PROCESSOS DE LAMINAÇÃO A QUENTE NA USIMINAS VIA SIMULADORES COMPUTACIONAIS

This paper describes the fundamentals of eight computer simulators, developed in Usiminas, for the hot rolling area, three of them being described in more details: hot strip finishing rolling, reheating of slabs in walking beam type furnaces, and hydraulic descaling. The simulators serve as powerful tool for process analyses in terms of process capability, and enhancement of process and product quality. They were developed using a visual platform that allows for flexibility in the construction of interfaces, easy access by the user and a good view of results. Off line analyses with those simulators have permitted to evaluate the process, for instance, in terms of equipment capability and how changes in process variables alter thermo-mechanical properties of the material being rolled. They have also been used as pos-processing tool, giving information on occasional operating abnormalities.