Real-Time Measurement Technology of Bearing Housing Clearance in a Rolling Mill

The assembly clearance between the bearing housing and rolling mill stand affects the roll change and rolling stability. In order to improve the accuracy and real-time measurement of the bearing housing clearance of the rolling mill, four kinds of measuring methods were designed, namely the laser ranging method, external force measuring method, internal force measuring method, and eddy current ranging method, and the characteristics of the four measuring methods were introduced, respectively. The real-time measuring experiment of bearing housing clearance was carried out in a 100 mm two-high mill in laboratory and a 1580 mm four-high hot tandem mill in the Qian’an Iron and Steel Company. The results show that clearance measurement technology is helpful to improve the accuracy of real-time measurements and can provide guidance for the clearance control work. Finally, based on the real-time measurement technology of bearing housing clearance, the control strategy of bearing housing clearance was developed. This technology is of great significance to realize the fine management of rolling mill clearance and to improve the intelligence level of rolling mill systems.