Study on Simulation and Calculation Method of Thermal Error Compensation System for a Ball Screw Feed Drive

Abstract

Due to the requirement of the development of the precision manufacturing industry, the accuracy of machine tools has become a key issue in this field. A critical factor that affects the accuracy of machine tools is the feed system, which is generally driven by a ball screw. Basically, to improve the performance of the feed drive system, which will be thermally extended lengthwise by continuous usage, a thermal error compensation system that is highly dependent on the feedback temperature or positioning data is employed in the machine tool system. Due to the overdependence on measuring technology, the cost of the compensation system and low productivity level are inevitable problems in the machine tool industry. This paper presents a novel feed drive thermal error compensation system method that could compensate for thermal error without positioning or temperature feedback. Regarding this thermal error compensation system, the heat generation of components, principal of compensation, thermal model, mathematic model, and calculation method are discussed. As a result, the test data confirm the correctness of the developed feed drive thermal error compensation system very well.