Energy Consumption Characteristics in Finish Hard Milling of Tool Steels

Energy consumption is a serious concern for manufacturing industry because it not only consumes substantial amounts of energy but also produces huge amount of greenhouse CO₂ emissions. Previous research has focused on the relationship between energy consumption and process conditions at the machine tool and spindle levels. However, little has been done to investigate the energy consumption in actual material removal at the process level. In this study, power profile and energy consumption at the machine tool, spindle, and process levels were characterized in hard milling. A new concept at the process level, net cutting specific energy, was defined to investigate the energy consumed by actual material removal. The relationship between cutting conditions and energy consumption at each level was studied. The results indicate that net cutting specific energy may not be predicted by the traditional model.