Abstract: A method of controlling a continuous skin-pass and reduction operation for a metal strip includes the steps of passing a strip through a gap between working rollers of at least two successive rolling stands, only an upstream one of the stands providing substantial thickness reduction of the strip; determining an extension rate of the strip provided by the upstream stand; determining a tension of the strip downstream of the upstream stand; adjusting the speed of the working rollers of the upstream stand compared to the speed of the working rollers of a downstream one of said stands according to the determination of the extension rate; and adjusting the squeezing force of the upstream stand according to the downstream tension determination. A response time to the step of adjustment of the squeezing force is longer than a response time to the step of adjusting the speed of the working rollers.

Abstract: A process for the cold rolling of a metal strip between rollers of rolling stands arranged sequentially is provided, along with a plant for its implementation, wherein the process involves:analyzing, as a function of frequency, a signal from an inter-stand tension measurement sensor corresponding to a level of tension of the metal strip to determine periodic variations in the signal having frequencies corresponding to a speed of rotation of the pair of rollers in a downstream rolling stand and proportional to out-of-roundness defects present in the rollers of the downstream rolling stand; andcompensating for the out-of-roundness defects in the rollers in the downstream rolling stand by adjusting the clamping setting of the rollers in the downstream rolling stand in accordance with a compensation signal, produced by the means for compensating, that is proportional to the periodic variations.