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Vollmer - Model VBM / VBF -Tactile Thickness Measurement System for Strip Production
The tactile thickness measurement systems, including the VBM, VBS, and VBK series from Vollmer, are engineered to deliver high-precision thickness measurement across all phases of cold rolling for both thin foils and heavy plates. Operating under diverse conditions, these systems achieve measurement precision of up to ± 0.5 µm. They are suitable for use from annealing lines to rolling mills, as well as in finishing and processing lines and steel service centers. These gauges can handle thicknesses ranging from 0.005 to 19 mm, effectively measuring even on wavy strips by maintaining perpendicular alignment to the strip surface, thus minimizing angular errors. The tactile method involves precise transducers that measure the distance between sensors touching the upper and lower surfaces of the strip, with automatic zeroing capabilities ensured through the use of diamond-tipped crowned sensors.
The contact gauges of the VBM, VBS and VBK series have proven themselves for decades in high-precision thickness measurement in all cold rolling situations, from the foil to the heavy plate, and under a wide range of ambient conditions. They measure with an accuracy of up to ± 0.5 µm. For the production of narrow strip, they can also be combined with tactile width measurement.
They are known for their exceptional reliability: nearly 2,500 systems have been put into operation over the past decades, and the number is increasing every year.
Flexible from 0.005 to 19 mm
The tactile systems are employed at all stages of the strip production process – on the annealing line and in the rolling mill, on the finishing line or during strip processing as well as in the steel service centre.
We manufacture them in different versions for thicknesses from 0.005 to 19 mm.
Precise even on wavy strip
With a measuring accuracy of up to ± 0.5 micrometres per millimetre of strip thickness, our contact gauges meet the requirements of modern rolling mills. They adapt to the strip pass and follow any waviness of the material. In this way they compensate angular errors by keeping the measuring head perpendicular to the strip.
The principle – the technology in detail
The thickness is measured by using extremely precise transducers to calculate the distance between the two sensors which touch the upper and lower surfaces of the strip. The advantage of this method is that – as with the laser – the systems measure irrespective of the alloy. Material parameters do not have to be entered and updated.
Automatic zeroing
We use crowned measuring sensors made of diamond, one of the hardest materials employed in industrial applications. When the gauge is in its parking position during changing of the coils, the sensors touch one another and the system can be zeroed.