Effect of environmental temperature on dynamic behavior of an adjustable preload double-nut ball screw

Abstract

The dynamic behavior of adjustable preload double-nut ball screw has been investigated by finite element simulation model under different environmental temperature conditions. The simulations focus specifically on the effects of the ambient temperature (5~55 °C) on the torque acting on the flange of the ball screw mechanism at rotational speeds of 50~1000 rpm. The environment temperature effect was less studies to discuss the heat deformation issue of ball screw. The validity of the simulation results is confirmed by comparing the predicted torque values with the experimental measurements. It is shown that the torque decreases logarithmically with an increasing temperature due to a change in the expansion coefficients of the ball screw mechanism components and a reduction in the viscosity of the ball screw lubricant. In particular, for a rotational speed of 1000 rpm, the torque reduces by approximately 75.6% as the environmental temperature is increased from 5 to 55 °C. However, for a constant temperature, the torque decreases with an increasing rotational speed due to centrifugal effects. For a low-rotational speed of 100 rpm, a good qualitative agreement is observed between the simulated torque and the measured torque at higher temperatures. However, in the low-temperature regime (e.g., 5 °C), the simulated torque is around 47.6% lower than the measured value.