Energy-based optimization of the material stock allowance for turning-grinding process sequence

Intensive appeal for energy saving has driven the production industry towards more environmentally benign manufacturing. Diverse process settings in manufacturing can result in a high variance of energy consumption. Regarding process chains, the allocation of machining stock to each process is very crucial in terms of energy use. Optimization of material stock allowance and process parameters can effectively reduce the production energy. In this study, two cylindrical machining processes—turning and grinding—are compared at machine level with respect to energy intensity and surface roughness. A systematic energy-efficient approach, based on minimizing the production energy while complying with the required surface roughness, has been developed and validated to optimize the grinding stock for the turning-grinding process sequence. Compared to conventional stock allocation method, the developed approach results in more than 16 % of energy reduction for the turning-grinding process.