Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Environmental Engineering

Abstract

Global warming is a well-documented concern. If left unabated, many scientists believe that global warming could potentially have devastating impacts to life on earth. Current research points to greenhouse gas emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels to produce electricity as one of the primary causes of global warming. The more electricity produced and consumed the more greenhouse gas emissions are released to the atmosphere. Industry is one of the most significant consumers of electricity. Within industry, manufacturing accounts for a significant majority of all energy consumed with machine tools being one of the largest consumers. Machine tool builders need to develop ways for machine tools to use less energy in producing the same amount of product. The literature contains suggestions on how a manufacturer can approach reducing the amount of energy consumed by machine tools in manufacturing. However, there is paucity in the literature related to how "adaptive control" might be employed to reduce the amount of energy consumed by machine tools in manufacturing. This study examined the possibility of employing "adaptive control" to minimize the amount of energy consumed by machine tools during machining.

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