Systems approach to reducing winding defects at Alcoa-Warrick operations

Abstract

When processing coated aluminum, coil winding defects can be a major detractor to recovery, flowtime, and customer satisfaction goals for coil coating and slitting operations. Over the past several years, extensive studies have been performed at Alcoa on individual parameters in an attempt understand their effect on coil collapse and other winding problems. These studies improved understanding, but did not fully explain the collapse defect. Recent work has concentrated on the analysis of all important variables together as a "system." The focus of this paper is to explain interactions between variables which influence coil collapse, and how this defect can be minimized by optimizing the system of winding a coil.