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Procedia CIRP 69 (2018) 656 – 661

25th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference, 30 April – 2 May 2018, Copenhagen, Denmark

An IoT-enabled approach for energy monitoring and analysis of die casting

machines
Weipeng Liua, Renzhong Tanga*, Tao Penga
a
State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-0571-8795-2048; E-mail address: tangrz@zju.edu.cn

Abstract

Die casting machines, widely used in manufacturing industry, consume a significant amount of energy. To reduce energy consumption, the
primary task is to accurately characterize and evaluate the current performance. The ability to access energy-related data and, more importantly,
effectively analyze these data to obtain key indicators is critical. In this paper, an Internet of Things (IoT) enabled method is proposed to stream
online energy data for energy analysis of a die casting machine. The energy data captured by digital power meters and PLCs was transferred to a
central server using real-time Ethernet. A set of indicators, including energy per part and energy per action, were developed to interpret the data
and to evaluate the performance of a die casting machine. The feasibility of the developed energy monitoring and analysis approach was examined
in a case study. Based on the results, several potential ways of energy savings were suggested.
©201
© 2017TheThe Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier B.V.
B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 25th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 25th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference

Keywords: Die casting machines; Energy efficiency; Internet of Things

1. Introduction In a die casting process, around 50% of the energy is

As an important stage of a life cycle, manufacturing accounts
for nearly one third of energy consumption and approximately
25% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emission globally
[1,2]. Sustainable manufacturing has become an area of
increasing interests, which aims for more environmental
friendliness [3]. The first step towards this is to effectively
evaluate the sustainability of manufacturing processes.
Die casting is one of the oldest and most energy-intensive
manufacturing processes [4]. 90% of manufactured products in
the United States contain die-casted components [5].
Approximately 25% of the cost of die casting is attributed to
energy consumption [6,7]. Existing research suggested that
increasing resource utilization could save energy consumption
of a die casting process by 20 to 30 percent [8]. More
importantly, improving its energy efficiency (EE) significantly
contributes to both sustainability improvement and
manufacturing cost savings.
consumed in melting and holding as a furnace usually runs 24
hours 7 days. The second largest energy is consumed in casting
process, which accounts for 30%, and a die casting machine is
the key energy consumer in this process. The rest is consumed
in fetching, trimming, and so on [9]. There are many studies on
energy consumption and EE improvement of the melting and
holding, such as Constrained Rapid Induction Melting Single
Shot Up-Casting [10,11]. However, few have been done to
evaluate these of die casting machines. Thus, this work aims to
bridge the gap by monitoring and evaluating the energy
consumption of die casting machines.
One of the biggest barriers for evaluating the energy
consumption of die casting machines is the difficulty in
collecting energy data [12,13]. The ability to overcome such a
difficulty is crucial for successful energy management.
Internet-of-Things (IoT) helps to connect physical devices
embedded with sensors to the internet, enabling ubiquitous data
collection. Such a technology has been used in many
applications. For energy monitoring and EE analysis, Juergen

2212-8271 © 201 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 25th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) Conference
doi:10.1016/j.procir.2017.11.109
 Weipeng Liu et al. / Procedia CIRP 69 (2018) 656 – 661 657

et al. [14] employed an online method to evaluate the EE of

machine tool operations, which revealed the energy
consumption and EE of each component. Eberhard et al. [15]
presented a standardized approach for energy data collection of
machines and their components on the PLCs, and developed an
approach for empowering PLCs with energy-optimal control
functions. Yee et al. [16] introduced an IoT-enabled software
application for real-time monitoring of EE at shop floor. Yen et
al. [17] presented an IoT-enabled approach for real-time waste
monitoring and analysis, and discovered waste reduction
potentials at shop floor.
Enabled by IoT, huge amounts of real-time energy and
operation data of die casting machines can be acquired.
Subsequently, energy analysis for die casting machines can be
performed in a central server, and the results can be visualized
by a worker or manager using a webpage in a timely fashion.
Energy optimization can then be applied.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In
Section 2, the technological processes and actions of die casting
machines are described. Indicators are proposed to evaluate the
energy performance as well. The approach to capturing and
analyzing the energy data is introduced in Section 3. A case
study is conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the
approach, and the preliminary results of the implementation is
presented in Section 4. Brief discussions, conclusions, and
future works are given in Section 5.

2. Die casting machine process

There are two types of die casting machines: hot chamber

and cold chamber. Hot chamber machines are used to cast parts
made of low melting temperature metals alloys, such as zinc
and tin. Cold chamber machines are used to cast parts made of
metal alloys with high melting temperatures, such as aluminum
and brass [3]. Among the metals that are casted, aluminum is a
very important one. Specifically, aluminum casting has
experienced continuous growth and dominates the nonferrous
sector in general, comprising 78% of total nonferrous
shipments [6]. Aluminum production consumes 3.5% of global
electricity and causes about 1% of global CO2 emission [18].
Therefore, the research object of this paper is the cold chamber
machines.
2.1. Technical description of die casting machine process
Die casting is a cyclical process. Each cycle follows the
same sequence that is depicted in Fig.1. The three bold
rectangular boxes indicating feeding, fetching, and spraying
respectively, represent the processes supplied by other
auxiliary equipment. The four dashed rectangular boxes
represent that those processes are not indispensable.
Fig. 1.The technical process of cold-chamber die casting machines.
As soon as the door is closed, the machine starts to lock the
die by four phases: slow moving, quick moving, low pressure
clamping, and high pressure clamping. Afterwards, the
machine starts the first energy accumulation and waits for the
filling of liquid metal into shot chamber by feeding machine.
When the above processes finished, a plunger will squeeze the
molten metal into the cavity, followed by several optional
phases including slow speed injection, first speed injection,
second speed injection, and pressurization injection. The
molten metal remains in the die cavity until the metal solidifies.
Once the metal solidifies, the die will be opened by the
clamping unit by two phases: high pressure opening and quick
moving. There are two ways by which a cast could get out of a
die. If the plunger trace is chosen, the plunger would move
forward a little to push the cast out of the static die
simultaneously with high pressure opening the die. Then the
plunger would move back when the cast is ejected. If the
plunger trace is not chosen, the plunger would move back at the
same time with opening the die. Through two actions, ejector
out and ejector back, an ejection system will force the cast out
of the die. Once the part is ejected, a fetching machine would
pick it up. Finally, lubricant is sprayed on the surface of the die,
the machine starts the second energy accumulation, and the
plunger would be lubricated. Then the next cycle will start.
658 Weipeng Liu et al. / Procedia CIRP 69 (2018) 656 – 661
2.2. Energy consumption indicators of die casting machines
For efficiently understanding and characterizing the energy
consumption of a die casting machine, some indicators are
proposed to reveal the performance.
The amount of energy required for processing a part (energy
per part) is a crucial indicator to both the green property of die
casting machine and the cost. Besides, energy per volume (m3),
the amount of energy required for processing one cubic meter
material of a part, and energy per weight (kg), the amount of
energy required for processing one kilogram material of a part,
are introduced to interpret the performance of the die casting
machine. These indicators can not only clearly reveal the EE
performance of a machine but provide necessary data for the
carbon footprint assessment of a part.
For further understanding and assessing the energy
consumption of a die casting machine, the total energy
consumption is divided by actions. Energy per action is defined
as the amount of energy consumed by one of actions for
processing a part. Energy per action can show the energy
consumption of a component of a die casting machine and
reveal the potential for energy reduction. The reduction can be
achieved by substituting a more efficiency component for the
old one. Besides, actions strongly depend on the parameter
setting of a die casting machine, so the energy per action may
be reduced by optimizing the parameters of a die casting
machine.
The technical processes of die casting machines are
described and analyzed incisively in the previous section. It is
necessary to divide them into many basic actions, taking the
characteristic and energy consumption of per process into
consideration. In this paper, the processes are divided into
seven categories consisting of standby, locking die, opening die,
injection, ejection, loose core, and plunger actions. The
descriptions and analyses of those base actions are the
following.
x Standby
The standby state, is also called basic action, is a state that
some basic devices such as PLC keep running and stay ready
to work.
x Locking die
The locking die action which consists of four phases: slow
speed, quick speed, low pressure, and high pressure, is to drive
the movable mold moving until locked with the static mold. .
x Opening die
The opening die action which consists of two phases: high
pressure and quick speed, is to drive the movable mold moving
back.
x Injection
The injection generally including four phases: slow
injection, first speed injection, second speed injection, and
pressurization injection is to squeeze the melting metal into the
cavity.
x Loose core
The loose core action includes loose core insertion and
extraction. The loose core insertion is to insert loose core into
mold. The loose core extraction is to pull out loose core from
mold.
x Ejection
The ejection action includes two phases: ejector out and
ejector back. The ejector out is to push out the cast from the
movable die and ejector back is to pull back the ejector.
x Plunger actions
The plunger actions include plunger tracing which move up
to push out the product at almost the same time with high
pressure opening die, plunger lubrication, and plunger return.
3. Energy data acquisition and analysis
For evaluating the energy consumption of those actions
which are described in the previous section, it is necessary to
capture and analyze the power and operation data of die casting
machines. The approach of data capturing and analysis is
introduced in the next paragraphs.
3.1. Energy data acquisition
The real-time power data can be accessed by a Power Meter.
The real-time operation data including current action, current
pressure, current flow, die position, and plunger position is
accessed through a PLC. The data capturing architecture of die
casting machines is depicted in Fig.2. For accessing and storing
the real-time power data, a power meter should contain a
communication module and most of the power meters support
the Modbus protocol. Connected with each other by serial line,
the power meter and an industrial personal computer can
exchange data according to communication protocol. Though
the communication protocol varies with different PLC
suppliers, the majority of PLCs supports the Ethernet way to
exchange data with host computer. So the real-time operation
data can be accessed through the Ethernet. The industrial
personal computer, which exchanges data with the power meter
and PLC, sends the data to the central server. The central server
processes the data in real time and display to the user by web
service.
Fig. 2. The data capturing architecture for die casting machines.
3.2. Energy data analysis
The acquisition energy data including power and operation
data consists of value and timestamp. We can describe those
data in the time domain.
 Weipeng Liu et al. / Procedia CIRP 69 (2018) 656 – 661 659

The notations of the variables in the Equations are listed

below:
x t1 (s)denotes the start time of a cycle
x t2 (s)denotes the end time of a cycle
x P(t) (w)tę[t1, t2] denotes the power at time t
x A(t) tę[t1, t2] denotes the action at time t
x ݊ denotes the action of die casting machines
x tns (s)denotes the start time of n-th action
x tne (s)denotes the end time of n-th action
x ‫ܧ‬part (J)denotes the energy per part
x ‫ܧ‬part_v (J/m3)denotes the energy per volume
x ‫ܧ‬part_w (J/kg)denotes the energy per weight Fig. 3. Five-star feet.
x ‫ܧ‬n_action (J)denotes the energy per action
x m(kg) denotes the weight of per part The power function P(t) of producing a Five-Star feet, is
x ȡNJP3) denotes the material density of part depicted in Fig.4, and the real-time operation data including
As stated in Equation 1, the energy consumption of per part action, pressure, and flow are depicted in Fig.5, Fig.6, and Fig.7
is calculated. The ‫ܧ‬part_w and ‫ܧ‬part_v can be calculated by respectively.
Equation 2 and Equation 3 respectively.
௧మ
‫ܧ‬௣௔௥௧ = න Pሺtሻ †–ሺͳሻ
௧భ
‫ܧ‬௣௔௥௧
‫ܧ‬௣௔௥௧̴௪ = ሺʹሻ
݉
‫ܧ‬௣௔௥௧̴௪
‫ܧ‬௣௔௥௧̴௩ = ሺ͵ሻ
ɏ
The energy consumption of action n can be calculated in
Equation 4. The tns and tne can be calculated in Equation 5 and
the solution t is in a feasible solution region [t_ns, t_ne].
௧೙೐
‫ܧ‬௡̴௔௖௧௜௢௡ = න Pሺtሻ †–ሺͶሻ
௧೙ೞ
ሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ ൌ ݊ሺͷሻ

4. Case study

An IMPRESS-III Series DCC800 cold-chamber die casting

machine by L.K. GROUP was chosen. It is a best seller with Fig. 4. The power curve of producing a Five-Star feet.
locking force up to 8000KN, high injection speed greater than
8m/s, low injection speed from 0.1 to 0.7m/s, injection force up
to 247kN, injection stroke up to 11.2kg, and Servo motor power
up to 75kW. Its PLC is CJ1W Series by OMRON.
A power meter which supports the Modbus protocol was
used for the power data extraction. A CJ1W-EIP21 unit by
OMRON was added to support EtherNet/IP communication of
PLC. An industrial personal computer was chosen to send and
receive command with the power meter and PLC. The real-time
data is transferred from the industrial personal computers to a
central server and stored in database. The data is analysed in
the central server and the result is showed to the web and
mobile web.
Five-Star feet is chosen. It is a component of office chair and
can be produced by the DCC800 cold-chamber die casting
machine. Fig. 3 is pictures of it. The material of the component
is Aluminium alloy, the weight is 1.7kg and the density is Fig. 5. The machine actions of producing a Five-Star feet.
2721kg/m3. The cycle time of producing the component is 61s.
660 Weipeng Liu et al. / Procedia CIRP 69 (2018) 656 – 661

The energy consumption of each action is calculated using

Equation 4 and 5. Most of the actions' starting and ending time
can be acquired from the machine actions data depicted in Fig.5.
A few of actions such as accumulation need the pressure data
depicted in Fig.6 and flow data depicted in Fig.7 to acquire the
starting and ending time. Table 1 shows the starting and ending
time, energy consumption and average power of actions.

Table 1. Energy consumption of actions.

Starting Ending energy average
Action
time(s) time(s) consumption(kJ) power(kW)
Locking die 0.73 6.54 82.92 14.26
Injection 14.95 21.08 49.27 8.00
High pressure
32.80 34.20 27.68 19.87
Fig. 6. The pressure of producing a Five-Star feet. Opening die
Plunger trace 34.20 35.85 18.62 11.29
Fast opening
35.85 37.63 5.23 2.94
die
Ejector out 41.09 42.25 9.78 8.36
Ejector back 49.09 50.22 2.91 2.58
Plunger return 53.94 56.34 117.44 49.08
Accumulation 56.91 60.70 92.47 24.35
Standby 0 60.70 43.50 0.72

Fig. 7. The flow of producing a Five-Star feet.

The total electric energy consumption excluding the

aluminium melting and heat preservation of producing a Five-
Star feet is 755.88kJ (about 0.21kWh). As depicted in Fig.9,
the total electric energy consumption is as follows. The die
casting machine consumes 455.78kJ electric energy and
accounts for 60.30%. The auxiliary equipment 1, consisting of
cooling fan, conveyer belt and trimming machine, consumes Fig. 9. The energy consumption distribution of die casting machine for
producing a Five-Star feet.
267.11kJ electric energy and accounts for 35.34%. The
auxiliary equipment 2 consisting of feeding machine, fetching
The total energy consumption of die casting machine can be
machine, and spraying machine, consumes 32.99kJ electric
divided into seven class actions which are described in section
energy and accounts for 4.36%.
2. As depicted in Fig.10, injection consumes 141.74kJ electric
The energy per part is calculated using Equation 1 and the
energy and account for 31.10%. Plunger actions consumes
value is 455.78kJ. The energy per weight and volume are
136.06kJ electric energy and account for 29.85%. Locking die
calculated respectively using Equation 2 and 3 and the values
consumes 82.92kJ electric energy and accounts for 18.19%.
are 268.11kJ/kg and 98.53J/m3 respectively.
Opening die consumes 32.90kJ electric energy and accounts for
7.22%. Ejection consumes 12.68kJ electric energy and account
for 2.78%. Standby consumes 43.50kJ electric energy and
account for 9.54%. Others consumes 5.98kJ electric energy and
account for 1.31%.

5. Discussions and conclusions

In this paper, an IoT-enabled method is presented. Power

Fig. 8. The energy consumption distribution of producing a Five-Star feet.
data were captured by power meters, and operation data by
PLC to evaluate the energy consumption of die casting
machines. Machine actions were used to segment a die casting
process. Some indicators were proposed to reveal the
performance of a die casting machine. Then, energy data
acquisition and analysis was conducted to support the
calculation of these indicators. Through a case study, the
feasibility of the method was demonstrated.
 Weipeng Liu et al. / Procedia CIRP 69 (2018) 656 – 661
Based on the analysis of acquired data, three findings are
given as follows.
x The poor coordination between the die casting machine and
other auxiliary equipment leads to a long waiting time in
feeding, cooling, fetching, and spraying. It results in low
energy efficiency. The coordination enabled by IoT online
data will improve it.
x It is surprising that the plunger actions consumed nearly 30%
energy, for these actions are not the critical and have no
significant impact on product quality. In particular, the
plunger return action consumed 117.44 kJ energy in 2.4 s
and the average power is as high as 49.08 kW. Optimizing
the plunger return speed is an option.
x The power, flow, and pressure changed sharply. It could
damage equipment and waste energy. The power peak is 72
kW and the power of most actions ranges from 15 kW to 35
kW. The running time of all actions is only a few seconds.
High power and short running time implies energy waste.
This also deserves research attention.
In future work, more detailed information about energy
consumption, such as energy consumption of per action, will
be investigated, and algorithms to optimize energy
consumption and EE based on real-time data will be developed.
This will efficiently help energy saving in die casting machines.
Acknowledgements
This research and development project is funded by the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.
U1501248), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
Universities (No.2016QNA4002), and Nantaihu Innovation
Program of Huzhou Zhejiang China.
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