To further improve the control accuracy for strip dimension of hot strip mills, an adaptive control scheme is investigated for a hot strip finishing mill based on the decentralization and coordination among the controllers of gauge, tension and looper. Consequently, the adaptive controller designed can regulate simultaneously the strip exit thickness, the strip tension and the looper angle to ensure better performance of the strip quality of finishing mills.

Moreover, the control scheme is proposed in consideration of the essential nonlinearity and the unavoidable friction phenomena in the mechanical system, so the controller can be efficient in a wider range of working situations. The simulation results of a model obtained from a real hot strip finishing mill show the effectiveness of the proposed control

scheme in comparison with the conventional control method.