The Application of Geometric Acquisition Devices (GAD) for Process Control in the Aluminum Extrusion Industry

摘要

The aluminum extrusion industry suffers traditionally from an inability to control the extrusion process based on the characteristics of the product. Unlike other industries, there are no existing means in the industry to relate, directly or indirectly, the geometry of a specific cross-section to the set of process parameters that existed at the press at the exact time that the specific cross-section passed through the die bearing. The recent development of Geometric Acquisition Devices (GAD) for the discrete and online acquisition of profile geometry (GAD), based on computer-assisted tomography (CAT), enables us through the use of computer software and artificial intelligence, to acquire the true geometry of the extruded profile and relate the dimensions of the crosssection to the process parameters that created it. A system which demonstrates this discrete approach is available and offered commercially.