The demand for higher productivity and tight part tolerances requires machine tools to have faster and more accurate feed drive system. As tried and tested technology, ball screw drive systems are still used in majority of machine tools due to their low cost and high stiffness. A high speed ball screw drive system natually generates more heat and results in greater positioning error, adversely affecting the accuracy of machined parts. In order to estimate the positioning error of the ball screw system and effectiveness of the liquid-cooling system, all possible heat gain-loss sources were analyzed and calculated as calculation factors. The following paper also presents degree of positioning error improvement which employed circulation liquid-cooling system and forced liquid-cooling system. Comparing the experimental results and the forcasts, it shows that sensational cooling performance and high consistency of reality and prediction are displayed.
