An interoperable energy consumption analysis system for CNC machining

Due to the ever-increasing energy prices and the growing public awareness of environmental well-being, improving energy efficiency has become a major concern for manufacturing industry. Effective energy analysis is the basis for a company's energy saving strategy. A systematic perspective is taken in this research and an interoperable energy analysis system is developed based on two techniques. One is the hybrid energy consumption modelling that combines high-level and low-level models. It improves the description of energy consumption in terms of accuracy, scalability, effectiveness and practicability. The other is integrated, standardised and STEP-NC compliant energy data models, which support energy analysis for various activities and purposes. A prototype system was developed, which enables systematic energy analysis and evaluation, and assists decision-making based on these techniques. Two case studies were conducted to demonstrate that energy estimation for different machining systems based on STEP-NC data, and energy analysis with adapted parameters is feasible and straightforward. With the developed energy analysis system, various activities that collectively contribute to overall energy efficiency are tightly integrated, which, in turn, keeps machining industry sustainable.