A multi-perspective analysis of sustainability of machining processes based on a new extended virtual manufacturing framework

Abstract

The manufacturers are facing unprecedented pressures to decrease their energy intensities in the context of global warming which is believed as being caused by human-produced greenhouse gas emissions. However, it is still challenging to achieve this due to the lack of proper tools for energy consumption prediction for complex machining processes. To bridge this gap, a new framework integrating energy consumption analysis into the current tool-chain of manufacturing engineers was established by fusing the energy consumption evaluation into the virtual manufacturing process. And to eliminate ambiguity of results, a novel joint spatially and temporally controlled boundary of machining energy was first introduced. The proposed method was further extended to enable the assessment of carbon footprint and comprehensive cost, the other two critical pillars of sustainability. A multi-perspective analysis of energy consumption characteristics of a complex machining process was demonstrated followed by the assessment of carbon footprint and comprehensive cost, based on the developed application for the proposed framework after being fully validated by experiments. The aforementioned framework opens a door for improving sustainability of machining processes.