Energy Efficient Manufacturing

Chapter 12Energy Efficient Manufacturing Process Planning

RuixueYin¹*, Fu Zhao^2,3 and John W. Sutherland³

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China

²School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

³Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

*Corresponding author: [e-mail]

Abstract

This chapter explores the idea of using process planning to reduce energy consumption and associated carbon footprint when manufacturing a mechanical part. After a brief overview on the basic concepts and procedures of process planning, an energy efficient process planning approach is proposed, which is based on energy and carbon footprint models for manufacturing processes. Feature-based technology is utilized in the approach, and the genetic algorithm is used to generate candidate process plans. The method is demonstrated using a shaft support as an example. Compared with cost-driven process planning, energy-efficient process planning can effectively reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint.

Keywords: Process planning, energy consumption, carbon footprint

12.1 Introduction

Process planning, in a broad sense, is a key element in project management, which specifies and selects resources to use during the execution and completion of a project. In a manufacturing setting, process planning is the act of determining the sequence of individual manufacturing operations needed ...