FRICTION IN THE KWE 15 LINEAR BALL RECIRCULATING GUIDEWAY. EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATIONS FOR UNLOADED CARRIAGE

An analytical friction forces model for a ball recirculating linear guideway with four contact points has been validated by experiments. The model was validated for a linear ball recirculating guideway type INA KWE 15  operating with  linear speed of carriage  between 1 to 10 mm/sec and with load acting on carriage between zero to 50N. The experiments were carried out on the linear table of the Tribometer CETR UMT2 for the unloaded carriage. Also, was determined by experiments the total recirculating forces acting on the balls. Important variations of the friction force caused by the variation of the force generated in the recirculation process of the balls were evidenced. For unloaded carriage,the analytical model was validated by experiments. Key words: Friction force, ball recirculation linear system, kinematics of the balls, dynamic of the balls, lubrication, tribometer.