Energy-Efficient Machining via Energy Data Integration

Energy-efficient machining strategies are required to be implemented in daily practice to advance the competitiveness of the enterprises on global scale. Energy information, which currently not considered as an integral part of production data, is studied. A need is identified to integrate energy information into production program and solidify the knowledge for extensive reference. To effectively represent and share the data, standardized format is regarded as one promising approach, thus STEP-NC is adopted. The proposed data models are grouped into four, i.e. automated energy monitoring and recording, energy estimation and labeling, energy optimization, and machine tool energy performance. The developed schema is compliant and harmonized with other parts in STEP-NC standards. A case study is presented to add energy information to STEP-NC file. It can be concluded that standardized data format enables the integration of energy information into the production process and enhances its sustainable performance.