Abstract
The article presents studies on the electromechanical system of a metallurgical horizontal looper in the steelmaking industry. During the operation of this unit, parameters in the system changes due to variations of length and mass of the steel strip, these variations significantly change elastic properties and reduce moments of inertia. Various methods of combating elastic vibrations in electromechanical systems are analyzed in this article. The article presents a description of experiments with a horizontal looper. A mathematical model for two extreme positions of the unit was developed based on experimental results. Simulation experiments were made and their results are presented. A new control system structure is proposed to reduce vibrations in the electromechanical system of a horizontal looper. A power-up sensor, adjuster and velocity derivative feedback were added into the model structure. The proposed feedback link structure takes into account the change of steel strip length. From the experimental data it follows that the proposed system provides effective damping of mechanical vibrations in the steel strip if its length during operation is changed.