Temperature simulation and thermal equilibrium analysis of the ball screw feed drive system under various working conditions

As one of the most important part of the machine tool, thermal behaviors of the ball screw feed drive system has great effect on the positioning accuracy and machining accuracy. Finite element method is widely used for simulating the temperature of the ball screw under various working conditions. In this paper, in order to improve the simulation accuracy, the moving heat loads are considered in the finite element model, and the response surface methodology is proposed to optimize the boundary conditions. The correctness and effectiveness of the method are verified by experimental data. In addition, according to the temperature simulation results of the ball screw feed drive system, thermal equilibrium is defined and the factors which have influenced on it are analyzed.