A practical energy consumption prediction method for CNC machine tools: cases of its implementation

Reducing machine tool energy consumption is critical for the manufacturing industry to achieve sustainable development. An improved energy consumption model is proposed based on the classification of computer numerical control (CNC) machine tool components. The model can be applied in various machine tools and express the machine tool operations flexibly and accurately. To facilitate the application of the model in the workshop, a corresponding procedure is proposed including data acquisition experiment, coefficient estimation, and numerical control (NC) program interpretation. The implementation of the method (i.e., the model and the procedure together) is illustrated in a grinder and a vertical machining center. The results show that the method has a good performance in predicting the power trend of machine tools during their working period. The energy consumption predictive accuracy is more than 96% in the two cases, which demonstrates the high robustness of the method.