How to maintain ball screw?

For any machine or industrial, maintenance is the most important part. Maintenance not only improves the efficiency of the product but also makes the product last longer.

In this article, we will focus on how to maintain a ball screw, and tell you the importance of maintaining it.

• What are precautions when using a ball screw?

• What should be taken into account when choosing a ball screw?

• The advantages of disadvantages of a ball screw.

What are precautions when using a ball screw?

First and foremost, there are some precautions that need to be taken into consideration. It is necessary to add lubricant regularly. This step is to make the ball screw smooth, without sufficient smoothness, the conflict between the ball and the tumbling surface during operation will increase and maybe the main cause of a shortened service life.

Besides, during installation, care must also be taken to mount the screw on the device in such a way that the screw does not separate from the nut, in order to avoid the ball being dislodged. Do not strike the ball screwdriver during installation, paying particular attention to the protection of the ball guide.

In addition, if the ball screws are used for a longer period of time, the ball screws may malfunction. The causes of these failures are many and varied and require appropriate measures to be taken depending on the cause.

What should be taken into account when choosing a ball screw?

Obviously, there are a lot of considerations that influence ball screw selection, let’s have an overview of it. The first one is the axial force required. To be precise, the required axial force will be a function of the mass of the load and the coefficient of friction of the guide system to be used.

Besides, Accuracy of lead, which will be a rather complex aspect of the specification, and reference should be made to catalog information and interpretation of fluctuations. Meanwhile, the critical speed is also a consideration, depending on the installation distance, the diameter of the shaft root, and the way the shaft is installed.

The advantages of disadvantages of a ball screw.

There is no denying that a ball screw has so many advantages that it can be applied in many sectors. Ball screws have the advantages of high precision, long life, high stability, and high axial rigidity. These advantages make it become the most commonly used transmission element in machine tools and precision machinery.

However, there are some problems that need to be noted. The first one is the high cost. Due to the high precision and low roughness of components such as ball screws and nuts, manufacturing costs are high. The spiral groove raceway on the screw and nut has to grind the forming surface, which has complicated process requirements and is difficult to manufacture.

Besides, a ball screw cannot be self-locking. Due to the self-gravitational inertia force, the moving parts cannot self-lock after the drive has stopped, and braking devices need to be added.

To summarize, in terms of overall practicality, a ball screw is definitely a sensible choice.