2019 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 101-106
In the conveyance systems of production lines for thin steel plates, there is a problem in that the quality of the plate surface deteriorates because the plates are always in contact with rollers. To solve this problem, electromagnetic levitation technologies have been studied. When an ultrathin and flexible steel plate is to be levitated, controlling the levitation becomes difficult because the plate undergoes increased flexure. In this study, we herein propose a method of levitating an ultrathin steel plate that is bent to an extent that does not induce plastic deformation. To investigate the levitation stability of an ultrathin steel plate, we applied disturbance cancellation control in a bending and levitation system. The object of electromagnetic levitation was a rectangular zinc-coated ultrathin steel plate (SS400) with a length of 800 mm, width of 600 mm, and thickness of 0.19 mm. A vibrator was attached below three frames on which an electromagnet unit was installed so that the frames could be vibrated up and down. We conducted experiments on levitation performance when the electromagnet was displaced by frame vibration in the system. The results show that stable levitation can be realized even with an input external disturbance when levitating at the optimum bending angle.
