The ball screw includes cage or recirculating ball elements to achieve linear motion. They operate at a minimum efficiency of 90%, have a predictable life, and generate a small amount of heat even during long periods of use. They are ideal for 100% duty cycle applications and high speed applications.

率的權衡是滾珠絲杠致動器不是自鎖的。如果用于垂直應用，則需要制動。循環球也會產生大量的可聽噪音。可以預加載滾珠絲杠執行器，以提供應用所需的響應性。

The trade-off of high efficiency is that the ball screw actuator is not self-locking. If used for vertical applications, braking is required. The recycle ball also produces a lot of audible noise. Ball screw actuators can be preloaded to provide the responsiveness required for the application.

滾珠絲杠可以用潤滑脂或油潤滑。潤滑脂更常用于滾珠絲杠潤滑，因為它不需要復雜的輸送方法，并且需要較少的重新潤滑間隔。但是，盡管使用潤滑脂非常簡單，但在許多應用中，油潤滑是滾珠絲杠組件的選擇。

The ball screw can be lubricated with grease or oil. Grease is more commonly used for ball screw lubrication because it does not require complex delivery methods and requires less relubrication intervals. However, although grease is very simple to use, oil lubrication is the best choice for ball screw assemblies in many applications.

，油提供冷卻并使滾珠絲杠組件內的熱量積聚小化。熱量導致螺桿軸的熱膨脹，這改變了螺紋的尺寸并對定位精度產生負面影響，因此在需要高速和/或高精度的應用中減少熱量是關重要的。

First, the oil provides cooling and minimizes the heat build-up in the ball screw assembly. Heat causes thermal expansion of the screw shaft, which changes the size of the thread and has a negative impact on positioning accuracy, so it is critical to reduce heat in applications requiring high speed and / or high accuracy.

如果油通過外部潤滑系統循環，則油的冷卻效果可能很大。循環系統還允許從油中過濾碎屑，這延長了潤滑的壽命并減少了螺桿組件的磨損。缺點是外部循環系統增加了組裝的復雜性和成本。

If the oil is circulated through an external lubrication system, the cooling effect of the oil may be great. The circulation system also allows debris to be filtered from the oil, which extends the life of the lubrication and reduces wear of the screw assembly. The disadvantage is that the external circulation system increases the complexity and cost of assembly.

當使用油進行滾珠絲杠潤滑時，使用適量的正確粘度油非常重要。如果油粘度太高，或者油太多，可能會產生過多的熱量。另一方面，如果油粘度太低，或者如果沒有足夠的油潤滑，螺桿將經歷額外的摩擦并且將加速磨損。

When using oil for ball screw lubrication, it is very important to use the right amount of oil with the correct viscosity. If the oil viscosity is too high, or if there is too much oil, too much heat may be generated. On the other hand, if the oil viscosity is too low, or if there is not enough oil lubrication, the screw will experience additional friction and will accelerate wear.

適當的油粘度取決于螺桿的平均速度，直徑和工作溫度。如果施加的負載很高 - 通常大于動態負載能力的15%到20% - 制造商通常建議使用帶有極壓(EP)添加劑的油，以提供額外的防磨損保護。

The proper oil viscosity depends on the average speed, diameter and operating temperature of the screw. If the applied load is high - usually greater than 15% to 20% of the dynamic load capacity - the manufacturer usually recommends the use of oils with extreme pressure (EP) additives to provide additional wear protection.