A Study on Product Quality Improvement by Regression Modeling of Mini-Mill Process

미니밀 공정의 회귀식 모델링에 의한 제품품질향상에 관한 연구

Mini-Mill process has been recently in operation at Pohang steel company, which enables more flexible steel coil production on customer demands. The effects of process parameters in Mini-Mill process need to be analyzed not only to make the process stable but also to improve product quality. This work aims to develop a regression model of Mini-Mill process using accumulated product data such that the process parameter effects on product tensile strength may be analyzed. The analysis shows that tensile strength is influenced mainly by the amount of components such as carbon, manganese, silicon, and sulfur. The effect of temperature is shown to be small. It is concluded that control of the components is much more responsible for both meeting the target and reducing the variation of the product tensile strength. Heat treatment is more useful in compensating tensile strength variations due to thickness differences and improving workability and other quality characteristics. More work is necessary for establishing regression expressions of the process that is reliable and accurate enough to dispense with the off-line inspection of the product tensile strength.