Uncertainty Modeling of Ballcrew Nut Stiffness

Abstract

Ballscrews are important motion transfer and positioning units of industrial machinery and precision machines. Positioning accuracy of the feed drive system depends upon axial stiffness of ballscrew systems. As the nut stiffness depends upon preload and operating conditions, analytical modeling of the stiffness is performed through the contact and body deformation analysis. For accurate contact analysis, the contact angle variation between balls and grooves is incorporated in the developed model. To verify the developed mathematical stiffness model, experiments are conducted on the test-rig. Through the uncertainty analysis according to GUM (Guide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measurement), it is confirmed that the formulated stiffness model has over 85% estimation accuracy. After constructing the ballscrew DB, a quick turnaround system for the nut stiffness estimation has been developed in this research.