Experiment-based thermal behavior research about the feed drive system with linear scale

Positioning error of the feed drive system has great influence of the machining quality. In order to guarantee the positioning accuracy, the linear grating scale is adopted to form a full-closed loop. However, due to the inner heat sources and environmental temperature variations, the linear grating scale could expand and the thermally induced positional deviation is generated. In this article, temperatures and positional deviations of the ball screw feed drive system and the linear motor feed drive system equipped with linear scales were tested. The factors that affect the positioning error were analyzed. Then, the temperatures and positioning coordinates were used as inputs to build the thermally induced positional deviation model of full closed-loop feed drive system. Based on the model, coordinate values of the machine tool were adjusted and the compensation was implemented. The testing results verified that after compensation, the positional deviations were greatly reduced.