Modelling of Variable Energy Consumption for CNC Machine Tools

Abstract

Machining is a prevalent process in manufacturing industries and consumes a considerable amount of energy which causes adverse environmental effects. Establishing an accurate energy evaluation model is essential for a sustainable machining process. An extensive amount of research work is conducted to model energy consumption for the constant material-removal rate machining processes such as turning and milling. However, no significant attempt is made to model energy consumed during variable material-removal rate machining processes like end face turning, grooving etc., which results in a substantial amount of error for the prediction of the total energy required for machining a product. In this work, experiments are performed on a computerized numerical control machine tool to acquire the material-removal energy consumption of end face turning process. The fluke 435 power analyzer is used to measure energy consumption. An empirical model is established between cutting parameters and energy consumed during the end face turning process. The coefficient of determination is used to evaluate the fitness of the model. The results indicate that the model can predict the end face turning energy consumption data accurately. The developed model can be further used to estimate the total energy consumption for machining of a product beforehand in early design stages and to identify the most suitable sustainable machining options.