As the need for speed and precision in modern manufacturing technologies increases, linear motors are attracting considerable research attention. Heat management and thermal deformation associated with linear motors comprise a major concern tied to the demand for machining accuracy. Here we describe a three-dimensional finite-element simulation analysis method that utilizes a three-phase linear synchronous motor for thermally characterizing a feed-driven system. We also present results from simulations and experiments aimed at verifying system thermal time constants and temperature distributions. These results demonstrate that the proposed analytical method is capable of making accurate and useful predictions of temperature and thermal behavior distributions for linear motors in terms of conventional heat generation in various transient and steady-state phases. It is our hope that these results will support future efforts to design modern feed-driven systems equipped with linear motors.