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Metal peeling refers to the process of forming a thin metal strip from the surface of a rotating feedstock using controlled material removal -- machining under an applied strip tension. In this paper, the mechanics of strip formation process is described, while emphasizing the role of strip tension in ensuring uniformity and quality of the peeled strip. This includes an analysis of the deformation history in the peeling zone and the transport dynamics of the strip as it moves from the cutting edge to the coiler. Using conservation laws, governing equations for strip tension and velocity that incorporate dynamic spatiotemporal interactions between peeling and transport processes are developed. The mechanics of strip formation process is described, while emphasizing the role of strip tension in ensuring uniformity and quality of the peeled strip. This includes an analysis of the deformation history in the peeling zone and the transport dynamics of the strip as it moves from the cutting edge to the coiler. Using conservation laws, governing equations for strip tension and velocity that incorporate dynamic spatiotemporal interactions between peeling and transport processes are developed. Peeling experiments are performed with steel using a prototype experimental platform to evaluate the proposed control approach. Comparisons between two control strategies, with and without tension feedback, are presented and discussed. The importance of real-time tension control for mitigating strip thickness variations and improving other dimensional features of the strip such as flatness and edge waviness is also briefly discussed. 

In this paper we derive spatially dependent transfer functions for web span lateral dynamics which provide web lateral position and slope as outputs at any location in the span; the inputs are guide roller displacement, web lateral position disturbances from upstream spans, and disturbances due to misaligned rollers. This is in sharp contrast to the existing approach where only web lateral position response is available on the rollers. We describe the inherent drawbacks of the existing approach and how the new approach overcomes them. The new approach relies on taking the 1D Laplace transform with respect to the temporal variable of both the web governing equation and the boundary conditions. One can also obtain the web slope at any location within the web span with the proposed approach. A general span lateral transfer function, which is an explicit function of the spatial position along the span, is obtained first followed by its application to different intermediate guide configurations.