Customized FlexTrieb® 67 % Less Lead Error

How can the positioning accuracy of a lead screw drive be improved when friction, installation misalignment and the highest precision requirements must all be taken into account?

For a high-resolution scanning system, Feinmess Suhl developed a customised FlexTrieb® Precision Lead Screw Drive. By carefully matching the lead screw, nut, materials and manufacturing processes, the lead deviation per revolution was reduced from 1.5 µm to 0.5 µm.

The result: 67% less lead deviation, repeatable positioning and a solution ready for series production.

The Initial Situation: Precision in a Compact Space

In high-resolution scanning systems, precise and repeatable linear movements are essential for reliable measurement results.

Feinmess Suhl was commissioned to design a lead screw drive during the early development phase. The requirements were clear: a lead deviation of less than 1 µm per revolution and the ability to compensate for axial installation misalignment.

The thread accuracy alone does not determine the motion behavior of a lead screw drive. Friction, material pairing, surface quality and manufacturing processes also influence repeatability and long-term stability.

In this project, the following requirements in particular had to be met:

• Uniform and low friction behavior
• High repeatability of the linear motion
• Compensation of axial installation deviations
• Long-term stable motion behavior
• Reproducible quality for series production

Our engineering solution: screw and nut as a matched system

Based on the FlexTrieb® precision lead screw drive, our engineering team developed a combination of lead screw and nut tailored to the application.

The optimization was achieved through several coordinated measures:

• Optimization of the thread grinding process
• Adjustment of the hardening process
• Targeted matching of materials and surfaces
• Optimization of friction and motion behavior
• Verification in the original system using a measurement method agreed upon with the customer

Over several development loops, the results were verified and the design was improved step by step. What mattered was not the optimization of a single screw, but the matching of the entire lead screw drive to the real motion behavior in the customer's system.