Influence of Rolling Friction in Linear Ball Guideways on Positioning Accuracy

Linear ball guideways have been used recently in precision or ultra-precision positioning devices. However, when the inner balls begin to roll or the moving direction reverses, these guideways are subject to rolling friction or nonlinear spring behavior. An ultra-precision device with a linear motor, referred to as a 'tunnel actuator' (TA), has been constructed to measure these phenomena. The application of a TA is beneficial for two reasons: it mostly cancels the attractive magnetic force between the stator and mover (armature), and its magnetic flux leakage is very low. The influence of the nonlinear spring behavior in ball guideways was investigated in this study using the pure driving force from a TA. The equilibrium between the driving force from the TA and the nonlinear spring force provided great accur acy for a positioning stage using a linear ball guideway.