The main difference between a ball screw and a trapezoidal screw is the way the load is carried between the moving surfaces. The ball screw uses a recirculating ball bearing, which is convenient to minimize friction and improve efficiency, while the trapezoidal screw uses the low coefficient of friction between the sliding surfaces. Therefore, trapezoidal screws are generally not as efficient as ball screws. By analyzing the tribological mechanism, it can be found that the predictability of sliding friction is definitely lower than that of the transmission using recirculating ball technology. The fatigue life equation (such as L10 life) is very reliable within its applicable range. Based on the above, it can be known that the ball screw and the trapezoidal screw are different in the ability to predict performance and life, so there are also big differences in the application field.
　Although the ball screw has many advantages (load, stiffness, efficiency, load cycle, predictability), but the cost is relatively high. Although compared with other translational linear motion solutions, they are cost-effective, but because the design of the ball screw is more complicated than that, it requires a hardened precision bearing surface and a ball circulation device. The size of the trapezoidal screw is small, the design is very flexible, the noise is small under normal use, the corrosion resistance is good, and the self-locking function can be configured to meet the needs of vertical applications. They play an important role in many application areas, and of course they also have some limitations.