Study of Structural and Thermal Deformation on Ball Screw System (BSS) Using Finite Element Method (FEM)

Abstract

Modern manufacturing industry highly demands high precision in machining to seek greater quality finishing. Therefore, in high speed machining, CNC machine tools are equipped with a ball screw driving system because of its high efficiency and longer life components. However, most of the time, thermal errors on the feed drive system are primarily caused by the friction heat generated at moving parts such as screw shaft, nut, end-bearing, and slide ways which cause thermal deformation in the ball screw system. This friction heat generated affects machining accuracy especially on the positioning accuracy along each axis. Reduction of thermal deformation of a ball screw is important in order to achieve the dimensional accuracy in machining activity. Therefore, in this research, an optimal solution will be sought after to reduce thermal errors to enhance the machining precision. Simulation work will be conducted using finite element method to determine the thermal deformation characteristics and mechanical behavior in machine tools components in order to reduce the thermal effects on the machine tools components to improve the machining accuracy of the manufactured parts.