Hot Strip Mill Model Technology Generates Nearly $100,000 in Royalties

The Hot Strip Mill Model (HSMM), one of several successful technologies developed under the AISI/DOE Technology Roadmap Program, is currently in use by 20 companies around the world and has returned nearly $100,000 in royalties to AISI. Licensed to INTEG Process Group, the HSMM is an off-line metallurgical model capable of predicting the thermal evolution, deformation behavior and resulting microstructure of steels being processed in a hot strip mill from the roughing mill to the coiler.

Since its release, INTEG has continued to enhance and improve HSMM technology, growing a long list of satisfied customers. As quoted recently in the American Metal Market, Peter Badgley, Stelco's manager of product development and applications said, "In many instances, in part due to the HSMM, our initial mill development trial process conditions are very close to the final optimized manufacturing conditions, thus dramatically reducing time to market of new products and development costs." Badgley added, "The INTEG HSMM has been used to help successfully develop value-added hot-roll products such as dual-phase and stretch-flange steel for automotive applications as well as new line pipe steels for the oil and gas industry."

To meet the on-going processing needs of steel companies and the ever increasing quality requirements of their customers, INTEG is developing a software module called ROADMAP that will ultimately expand the HSMM capabilities to a real-time, on-line mechanical properties model capable of dynamically optimizing the final product. INTEG reports that interest in the HSMM and ROADMAP is steadily growing. For more information, contact Joe Vehec.