An energy consumption prediction approach of die casting machines driven by product parameters

Abstract

Die casting machines, which are the core equipment of the machinery manufacturing industry, consume great amounts of energy. The energy consumption prediction of die casting machines can support energy consumption quota, process parameter energy-saving optimization, energy-saving design, and energy efficiency evaluation; thus, it is of great significance for Industry 4.0 and green manufacturing. Nevertheless, due to the uncertainty and complexity of the energy consumption in die casting machines, there is still a lack of an approach for energy consumption prediction that can provide support for process parameter optimization and product design taking energy efficiency into consideration. To fill this gap, this paper proposes an energy consumption prediction approach for die casting machines driven by product parameters. Firstly, the system boundary of energy consumption prediction is defined, and subsequently, based on the energy consumption characteristics analysis, a theoretical energy consumption model is established. Consequently, a systematic energy consumption prediction approach for die casting machines, involving product, die, equipment, and process parameters, is proposed. Finally, the feasibility and reliability of the proposed energy consumption prediction approach are verified with the help of three die casting machines and six types of products. The results show that the prediction accuracy of production time and energy consumption reached 91.64% and 85.55%, respectively. Overall, the proposed approach can be used for the energy consumption prediction of different die casting machines with different products.

Key words： die casting machine; energy consumption prediction; product parameters

Nomenclature

Abbreviations
CNC	Computer numerical control
DC	Die closing
DCO	Die closing and opening
DO	Dosing
DP	Die opening
ECPA	Energy consumption prediction accuracy
EO	Ejector out
EX	Extracting
IoT	Internet of Things
PB	Plunger backward
PF	Plunger forward
PFB	Plunger forward and backward
SO	Solidification
SP	Spraying
Variables
Aap	Shot piston area
Aar	Shot piston area minus the rod area
ADC	Cross-sectional area of the hydraulic cylinder
AEO	Cross-sectional area of the piston
Apa	Cavity projected area
APB	Area of plunger tip
APF	Area of the plunger tip
Apt	Area of the plunger tip
Asa	Cavity surface area
ASO	Area of the gate
dDC	Diameter of the hydraulic cylinder
deo	Displacement of EO
dEO	Diameter of the piston
dPB	Diameter of plunger tip
dPF	Diameter of the plunger tip
dPFB	Displacement of PFB
dSP	Diameter of hydraulic cylinder for a certain sub-process
Ebasic	Basic energy consumption
EDC	Energy consumption of DC
EDO	Energy consumption of DO

EDP	Energy consumption of DP
EEO	Energy consumption of EO
EEX	Energy consumption of EX
Eideal	Sum of the ideal energy consumption
E_{\mathrm{i}\mathrm{d}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{l}}^i	Ideal energy consumption of the ith sub-process
EPB	Energy consumption of PB
EPF	Energy consumption of PF
Epredict	Predicted energy consumption per part
ESO	Energy consumption of SO
ESP	Energy consumption of SP
Etheoretical	Theoretical energy consumption
FPBA	Average force of PB
h	Average wall thickness of product
hmax	Maximum wall thickness
K	Magnification times of toggle clamps
L	Product length
LDC	Displacement of DC
LEO	Displacement of EO
LPB	Displacement of PB
LPF	Displacement of PF
LSO	Theoretical length of the metal liquid
LSP	Displacement during a certain sub-process
nc	Number of die cavities
nl	Number of machine cycles per lubrication
ns	Total number of side-pulls
P	Injection pressure of PF or SO
Pap	Accumulator pressure
Pbasic	Basic power of die casting machine
PDC	Instantaneous hydraulic pressure of DC
PDCA	Average hydraulic pressure during DC
PEO	Instantaneous hydraulic pressure of EO
PEOA	Average hydraulic pressure of EO
Pep	Exhaust pressure
PPB	Instantaneous hydraulic pressure of PB
PPBA	Average hydraulic pressure of PB
PPDCA	Pre-set hydraulic pressures of DC
PPDP	Pre-set hydraulic pressures of DP
PPEO	Pre-set hydraulic pressures of EO
PPF	Instantaneous hydraulic pressure of PF
PPFA	Average hydraulic pressure of PF
PPPBA	Pre-set hydraulic pressures of PB
PPPFA	Pre-set hydraulic pressures of PF
PPSOA	Pre-set hydraulic pressures of SO
PSO	Instantaneous hydraulic pressure of SO
PSOA	Average hydraulic pressure of SO
PSP	Instantaneous hydraulic pressure
tcycle	Production cycle
tDC	Duration of DC
tDCO	Duration of DCO
tDCT	Machine dry cycle time
tDO	Duration of DO
tDP	Duration of DP
tEO	Duration of EO
tEX	Duration of EX
tPB	Duration PB
tPF	Duration of PF
tSO	Duration of SO
tSP	Duration for a certain sub-process
tSPR	Duration of SP
Ti	Recommended melt injection temperature
Tl	Die casting alloy liquid temperature
Tm	Die temperature before the shot
veo	Average velocity of EO
vPFB	Average velocity of PFB
Vcavities	Volume of cavities
Vfeed	Volume of feed system
Vinject	Shot volume
Voverflow	Volume of overflow wells
VSO	Volume of the metal liquid
W	Product width
WSP	Power value of a certain sub-process
y_{\mathrm{a}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{t}}^i	Actual time or energy consumption
y_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{e}}^i	Predicted time or energy consumption
β	Cooling factor
{\eta }_{\mathrm{D}\mathrm{C}}^{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{p}}	Pump efficiency of DC
{\eta }_{\mathrm{D}\mathrm{C}}^{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{v}\mathrm{o}}	Servo efficiency of DC
ηDCA	Hydraulic system average efficiency of DC
{\eta }_{\mathrm{D}\mathrm{P}}^{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{p}}	Pump efficiency of DP
{\eta }_{\mathrm{D}\mathrm{P}}^{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{v}\mathrm{o}}	Servo efficiency of DP
ηDPA	Hydraulic system average efficiency of DP
{\eta }_{\mathrm{E}\mathrm{O}}^{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{p}}	Pump efficiency of EO
{\eta }_{\mathrm{E}\mathrm{O}}^{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{v}\mathrm{o}}	Servo efficiency of EO
ηEOA	Hydraulic system average efficiency of EO
ηmachine	Efficiency of die casting machines
{\eta }_{\mathrm{P}\mathrm{B}}^{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{p}}	Pump efficiency of PB
{\eta }_{\mathrm{P}\mathrm{B}}^{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{v}\mathrm{o}}	Servo efficiency of PB
ηPBA	Hydraulic system average efficiency of PB
{\eta }_{\mathrm{P}\mathrm{F}}^{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{p}}	Pump efficiency of PF
{\eta }_{\mathrm{P}\mathrm{F}}^{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{v}\mathrm{o}}	Servo efficiency of PF
ηPFA	Hydraulic system average efficiency of PF
{\eta }_{\mathrm{S}\mathrm{O}}^{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{p}}	Pump efficiency of SO
{\eta }_{\mathrm{S}\mathrm{O}}^{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{v}\mathrm{o}}	Servo efficiency of SO
ηSOA	Hydraulic system average efficiency of SO
ηSP	Average efficiency of hydraulic system

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51805066), and the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, China (Grant No. cstc2018jcyjAX0579). The authors gratefully acknowledge the reviewers and editors for their insightful comments.

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