The functional parts of a machine tool determine its reliability level to a great extent. The failure prediction of the functional part is helpful to prepare the maintenance scheme in time, in order to ensure a stable manufacturing process and the required production quality. Due to the rise of digital twin (DT), which has the characteristics of virtual reality interaction and real-time mapping, a DT-based real-time prediction method of the remaining useful life (RUL) and preventive maintenance scheme is proposed in this study. In this method, a DT model of the manufacturing workshop is established based on real-time perceptual information obtained by the proposed acquisition method. Subsequently, the real-time RUL of the functional part is predicted by establishing an RUL prediction model based on the nonlinear-drifted Brownian motion, which takes the working conditions and measurement errors into consideration. On this basis, the optimal preventive maintenance scheme can be determined and fed back to the manufacturing workshop, in order to guide the maintenance of relevant parts. Finally, an example case study is presented to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

In this article, a multi-objective optimization method for the accelerated degradation test is proposed to solve the problem that the single objective optimization cannot meet the needs in practice gradually. Firstly, the Gamma process is assumed to describe the degradation path of product. Then, three optimization objectives are considered to establish the multi-objective optimization model based on the analytic hierarchy process, under the constraint that the total experimental cost does not exceed a predetermined budget. To solve the established optimization model, the self-adaption searching algorithm is proposed to search the optimal test plan, in which the searching interval of the decision variable is dynamically adjusted according to the feedback of the optimization function. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by a group of examples of motorized spindles.

The dual-drive ball screw pair serves as a crucial element within the fixed gantry machine tool with cross-rail movement. When in service, the dual-drive ball screw pair experiences variations in axial load, impacting the contact load distribution of the ball screw pair. A calculation model for determining the axial load offset of the dual-drive ball screw pair is proposed to investigate the variation in axial load. The impact of the geometric error associated with the guide rail and the position of the slide are considered. This paper presents the contact load distribution model for the dual-drive ball screw pair. This study investigates the contact load and contact angle distribution of the dual-drive ball screw pair during the machine tool in service. Additionally, based on fractal theory, the stiffness models of individual micro-convex body and contact surfaces have been established. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the contact stiffness of the ball screw pair, considering the influence of guide rail geometric error and slide position. In addition, the three-dimensional surface morphology of ball screw pair is obtained by experiments. This paper investigates the contact stiffness distribution of dual-drive ball screw pair during service.

Considering that the degradation of ball screw grease involves fractal characteristics, which exhibit long-term dependency and autocorrelation, a multivariate accelerated degradation modeling and reliability assessment method based on the fractional Brownian motion process model is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a nonlinear accelerated degradation model of grease is established using fractional Brownian motion, considering the heterogeneity of samples as well as the memory effect and long-term dependence in the deterioration process, and realizing parameter estimation. Secondly, a multivariate reliability evaluation model is established by considering multivariate performance indicators in combination with the Frank copula function. Finally, the effectiveness and potential engineering application value of this method are verified through actual degradation data of the grease.