Study on heat transfer characteristics and thermal error suppression method of cylindrical giant magnetostrictive actuator for ball screw preload

Based on the structure analysis and the working principle of cylindrical giant magnetostricve actuator (CGMA) for ball screw preload, a thermal error suppression method using oil cooling system to control the temperature is proposed. Firstly, the heat transfer model and thermal circuit model of CGMA are established; next, the steady-state temperature model and the thermal expansion displacement model of cylindrical giant magnetostrictive material (CGMM) are obtained according to the heat-transfer rules and loop analysis method in circuit analysis; finally, the design parameters of the oil-cooling temperature control system are determined by combining thermal circuit model analysis with finite element simulation analysis. Such optimization method saves a lot of computation and provides a simple way for the design of oil cooling structure. In addition, a test platform for the CGMA is established. The experimental results indicate that the measured temperatures are in good agreement with the simulation results under forced oil cooling, and the relative error is less than 5%, which proves the rationality of the temperature control system. Moreover, the output accuracy and stability of the CGMA is significantly improved with proposed oil cooling method, which further confirms the thermal error suppression method is effective. As a result, this study provides a basis for the application of CGMA in the precise adjustment of double-nut ball screw preload.