Abstract
This paper deals with the thermal deformation and distortion of a column caused by the temperature variation in a machine shop. In general, the wall thicknesses of the column of machine tools, for example the machining center, are different between the front and rear sides, so the distortion is caused by the variation, that is by the difference of temperature rises between both sides. The behavior of thermal deformation is calculated numerically and analytically. The following results are obtained: (1) The maximum value of the distortion appears in the case of a heat transfer coefficient on the wall. (2) The coefficient is determined not only by natural convection but also by thermal radiation.
