A multi-criteria decision method for sustainability assessment of the use phase of machine tool systems

Abstract

In recent years, going green has become a strategic priority in manufacturing which has evolved from the growing awareness of the need for environmentally friendly processes and products. Recent trends in developing new machining strategies able to support environmental protection and prevention of pollution in balance with socioeconomic needs and technical requirements inevitably require significant efforts in fundamental understanding of the actual energy and material flows needed to meet the machining requirements. This paper describes the methodology and software, Global Reasoning for Eco-Evaluation of Machining, developed to evaluate the use phase of a machine tool system with respect to a consistent set of technical, economical, and environmental criteria, as a part of the NEXT European project. The evaluation, based on the analytic hierarchy process, is conducted at two levels: (a) the process/part level which considers the local cutting environment along with the "actors" that are directly involved in the cutting area, their relationships, and the phenomena that occur from their interactions and (b) the system level which gathers together the main specifications of the machine tool system and the energy requirements associated with various activities performed in order to support the material removal processes. Two database structures were defined in order to store the entire amount of data needed to perform the analysis at each level. A detailed example of the evaluation carried out at the first level demonstrated the superior performance of the dry and minimum quantity lubrication alternatives over their wet machining counterpart when cutting power, cutting fluid consumption, and the machining time were considered as criteria for the performance evaluation of various milling tests.

Evaluation on models of calculating energy consumption in metal cutting processes: a case of external turning process

“…Previous environmental studies for cutting processes indicated that more than 99 % of the environmental impacts are caused by electrical energy consumption [4]. Besides, energy is a decisive factor in terms of both cost and competitiveness, and manufacturers benefit if the energy requirements of machining process are reduced [5]. It is critical to achieve energy consumption reduction.…”

Energy consumption model and energy efficiency of machine tools: a comprehensive literature review

“…Avram et al (2011) evaluated the energy efficiency and environmental impact in machining process, using the analytic hierarchy process to weigh the criteria in three areas of technical, economic and environmental. Cao et al (2012) proposed a carbon efficiency evaluation method to quantify the life cycle carbon emissions of machine tools.…”

Carbon Footprint Analysis in Metal Cutting Process

“…Metal cutting processes are industry processes in which metal parts are shaped by material removal processes involving the interaction between the cutting tool, the material to be cut, and the cutting fluid [7]. These three elements are main parts of machining activity, they are including the material and energy consumption with relationship to carbon footprint not only in terms of cost and competitiveness, but also in environmental aspect.…”

“…While the exact calculation depends on the activity data of the classified material and its emission factor relatives to carbon footprint, it is important to note that the factor must also be appropriately accurately collected. Contrary to the acquisition of activity data, the compilation of emission factors is more complicated for collection [7]. Some authorities such as EPA, IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), EU (European Union) and many countries maintain compilations of emission factors that can be used in various emission evaluation, while, they are still not readily available at present.…”