Experimental Study on the Coefficient of Friction of the Ball Screw

The coefficient of friction (COF) is a key factor to estimate the performance of ball screws. Pieces of research focus on the experimental study of the COF, leading to the COF chosen empirically in many studies. To acquire the COF of the ball screw, a measuring system is conducted to detect the friction torque under different preloads and rotational speeds and the effects of the applied axial load and rotational speed on the COF are analyzed. By the curve fitting method, the Stribeck curve of the ball screw is obtained. The experimental results show that the lubricating state can be divided into two categories: the mixed lubrication state and the elastohydrodynamic lubrication state. This study is beneficial to choose a suitable working condition for a different performance of the ball screw.