NSK Ltd.
Corporate Communications Department
NSK Receives “Outstanding Paper Award” From Machine Tool Engineering Foundation
NSK Ltd. (headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Akitoshi Ichii; hereinafter “NSK”) has been recognized with the “FY2025 (47th) Outstanding Paper Award” from the Machine Tool Engineering Foundation.
Awards Ceremony (June 16, 2026, Dai-ichi Hotel Tokyo)
From left: Chief Director Toshio Adachi (Machine Tool Engineering Foundation) and
from NSK: Satoru Arai (Recipient Representative), Yushi Takenouchi, Shintaro Honda, & Shota Tani
Award Criteria
Each fiscal year, the Machine Tool Engineering Foundation selects exceptional papers related to machine tool technologies based on their originality, creativity, and practical applicability.
The “Outstanding Paper Award” is open to researchers and engineers at universities, technical colleges, research institutions, and companies.
The Foundation’s screening committee meticulously reviews all submissions and selects novel papers with the potential to contribute significantly to the development and advancement of machine tools.
With its long history and prestige in the manufacturing sector, this award is recognized as an esteemed honor, particularly within the machine tool industry.
Overview
NSK Recipients
・Industrial Machinery Technology Development Center: Satoru Arai (Executive Chief Engineer)
・Digital Twin Promotion Office: Yushi Takenouchi
・Digital Twin Promotion Office: Shintaro Honda
・Core Technology R&D Center: Shota Tani (Lead)
(Department affiliations as of Oct. 2026.)
Paper Details
“Foundational development, modeling and configuration of state stabilizing mechanism to maintain axial tension in ball screw feed drive systems”
Journal of Advanced Mechanical Design, Systems, and Manufacturing, Vol. 19, No. 1, 2025
(https://doi.org/10.1299/jamdsm.2025jamdsm0008)
Synopsis: To improve machine tool stability, the authors devised a “state stabilization mechanism” for ensuring consistent axial tension in ball screw feed drives.
During operation, the screw shaft becomes elongated due to heat, which affects the axial tension applied and reduces machining quality. This is typically addressed by on-site adjustments, but these measures are time-consuming, costly, and inconsistent in their effectiveness.
The mechanism presented uses frictional heat generated by the support bearings to autonomously maintain axial tension even when the screw shaft experiences thermal deformation. After considering energy circulation and constructing an analytical model, the effectiveness of the mechanism was verified through rigorous testing in actual equipment.
Award Rationale
“Past measures to address thermal deformation in ball screws mostly involved symptomatic treatments. In contrast, this study presents findings that enhance the precision and reliability of machine tools with a new method for autonomously stabilizing axial tension, and we highly commend this effort.”
(Hidenori Shinno, Review Committee Head; Professor Emeritus, Institute of Science Tokyo)
Press Releases & Other Publications
・News Release (November 11, 2022)
NSK Develops “NSK Feed Drive AdjusterTM “
・Web Magazine “NSK Stories” (March 31, 2023)
・News Release (December 8, 2023)
・NSK Technical Review (March 2026)
■ About the Machine Tool Engineering Foundation
The Machine Tool Engineering Foundation is a public interest incorporated foundation established on July 17, 1979 with approval from the Minister of Commerce and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) through donations from entities such as Tsunezo Makino, the founder of Makino Milling Machine Co., Ltd., for the purpose of promoting scholarship, science, and technology.
The objective of the Foundation is to contribute to the sound development of the machinery industry and thereby the development of the national economy by helping cultivate researchers and engineers involved in enhancing the quality and performance of machine tools and improving and streamlining their production and usage through assisting with the advancement of basic and applied technologies related to machine tool development, production, and use.
(Adapted from MTEF website)
About NSK
NSK produced the first bearings in Japan in 1916 and over the past 100 years, it has supported the development of industries worldwide by creating various innovative products and technologies in bearings, automotive parts, and precision machinery. Since the early 1960s, the company has expanded overseas and now has operations in about 30 countries. It ranks third in the world in the field of bearings and leads the world in ball screws, electric power steering, and other products.