What is the noise level of a ball screw?

Due to the increasing speed of machinery and changes in the environment, there is a strong demand for quieter Ball Screws.
Currently, there is a need for quieter Ball Screws even when they are used in FA/OA equipment and machine tools.

So how much noise do Ball Screws generally make? In terms of various sound levels, the sound pressure levels are the same as normal conversation (about 65 dB), the voice of a cicada (about 80 dB), the sound of a car (about 100 dB), etc. There are three main causes of ball screw noise: "from the ball screw itself," "from the installation accuracy of the ball screw," and "from the mechanical system as a whole."

1. From the ball screw itself

In a ball screw, balls circulate while rolling, so it is inevitable that there will be noise when the balls roll along the thread groove surface or pass through circulation parts such as tubes.
Research has shown that it is the subtle "surface condition" and "waviness" of the thread groove surface that have a large effect on noise.

2. Ball screw installation accuracy

Ball Screws are installed in mechanical devices, but if there is a lack of precision in terms of parallelism or squareness when they are installed, uneven loads will cause abnormal noise. This abnormal noise can be checked by loosening the bolts that attach the ball screw, operating it, and checking whether the noise level decreases.

3. As a whole mechanical system

The entire mechanical system, including the ball screw, may experience resonance. The cause of noise may be insufficient rigidity of the drive motor, detector, or mechanical device.

At KURODA, we have been researching the noise caused by Ball Screws for many years, and have been trying to reduce the noise level of Ball Screws.

• Improved raceway shape accuracy
• Reduction of rolling surface waviness
• Improved surface finish
• Rational design of circulation section

This has achieved significant noise reduction compared to conventional products, contributing to noise reduction not only in automatic drafting machines and office automation equipment used in offices, but also in robots, machine tools, and other equipment.