Adaptive robust stabilization of continuous casting

Continuous casting processes can suffer from a disturbance effect, called “dynamic bulging”, that causes large oscillations of the mold level, significantly reduces the quality of the final product and may cause instability and damages. In this paper this effect is analyzed and a new integrated control strategy is presented capable of significantly reduce the dynamic bulging without slowing down the process. The strategy is based on the superposition of two effects, one derived from the prediction of the periodic components of the oscillations and the second based on a robust adaptation scheme. Simulation and experimental results underline the advantages of the proposed method.