Metal and Steel Production

Acuity’s AP820 is used to profile aluminum and steel billets with high repeatability and speed before scalping. Several Acuity AP820 laser scanners can be mounted in parallel to cover the whole width of the ingot with one scan.

Aluminum is often sold in long sheets, sometimes up to 20-30 feet long. The customer expects these sheets to be a specific length.

As an ingot block gets squeezed down into a thinner and thinner sheet of aluminum, the operator needs to know the thickness of the sheet in order to be rolled to the correct size. Acuity has designed the AR700 for use on a mechanical caliper slide that positions two dual opposed lasers around the sheet

Acuity helped a copper bar manufacturer identify both a non-contact solution and formalize their upgrade investment justification.

A worldwide manufacturer of copper round stock and copper strips sought — and found — a new solution for their inline copper thickness measurement. The company selected two AR700 – 0125 laser displacement sensors for a dual thickness solution.

In this video we showcase how we use our AR700 Laser Displacement Sensor to count & display stacks of sheet metal.

A large steel producer makes products in various shapes and sizes. Laser sensors measure the position of the end relative to the distance to a saw blade.

Rangefinders are used in the manufacturing process to make sure glowing yellow/red hot billet lengths are to the correct length dimensions. Laser rangefinders can be remotely installed and offer a safer solution.

Laser sensors are commonly used in steel hot mills because they need an accurate, non-contact method of determining the position or dimensions of materials that are too hot to touch. Many of Acuity’s customers are OEM integrators who service the specialized needs of the Steel and Aluminum Mill customers.

One method for monitoring inventory stacks and inventory management systems is using non-contact thickness measurement either during production, at an inspection station, or post-production.

One of our customers is using the AR2000 laser rangefinder to measure and control the level of molten metal in a furnace.

Laser sensors are used to monitor loop distance between rolls. The non-contact laser is mounted above the loop and pointed down to measure the bottom of the loop.

Laser rangefinders can be mounted perpendicular to the coil surface. If the distance from the sensor to the roll core is known, a single laser rangefinder can be used to monitor the change in distance from the roll core to the sensor, giving way for diameter calculation measurements.

As metal moves over the top of the roller, the laser calculates the height of the metal to be used as the thickness of the metal. A single laser can be used for one point of measurement or multiple sensors across the roll for multiple thickness measurement points.

During the casting process, the AR700 laser is used to measure the surface location of the molten aluminum mold. In order to obtain a homogeneous oxide-free cast, the height of the mold must be precisely monitored.

Steel mills producing large coils of sheet stock store their inventory on the floors of huge warehouses. Modern factories automate the pick and place of their inventory in 3D space by equipping their overhead cranes with multiple laser distance sensors.

One of Acuity’s customers is a large sheet metal fabricator and is using the AP820-1000 blue laser line sensor to control the position of the steel plate in the slitter line.

The metals fabrication business is one of the oldest industries in the world. Large mills are automated, but some smaller mills still rely on hand-held micrometers to gauge metal thickness. AR200 laser measurement sensors are ideal for measuring steel strip thickness to fine resolutions. Steel passes between two opposing non-contact laser sensors.

Laser scanners are used to track and detect weld seams using laser line triangulation, providing a robust method for controlling the position of welding torches and ultrasonic test probes for weld inspection.