Topic 6

Power Transmission Elements II

Topics:
• Screws!
• Gears!

© 2000 Alexander Slocum 6-1

 Screws!

• The screw thread is one of the most important inventions ever made
• HUGE forces can be created by screw threads, so they need to be carefully engineered:
– Leadscrews
– Physics of operation
– Stresses
– Buckling and shaft whip
– Mounting
• When HUGE forces are created by screws, the speed is often slow
– Always check to make sure the system delivers the force and speed required
 Screws: Leadscrews & Ballscrews
• Leadscrews are essentially accurate screws used to move a nut attached to a load, and they
have been used for centuries to convert rotary motion into linear motion
– Leadscrews are commonly used on rugged economy machine tools
– Efficiency in a leadscrew system may be 30-50%,
• Precision machine or those concerned with high efficiency often uses a ballscrew
– Sliding contact between the screw and nut is replaced by recirculating ball bearings and may have
95% efficiency
Carriage

Rotary Encoder

AC Brushless Motor
Flexible Coupling
Bearing Housing Support Bearings
Ballscrew Ballnut

© 2000 Alexander Slocum 6-3

 Screwforce.xls
Common thread angle Thread angle α
Spreadsheet for lifting force from a screw

Screws: Forces
for manufacturing for analysis
Written 3/08/01 by Alex Slocum
60 30
Enter numbers in bold
Be consistant with units! (in, lb or N, m or N, mm)

• To move a load with a screw thread: Motor torque (input) 50

Motor speed (rpm) 100
- dF Z Dthrustbearing 12
Z sin α dFN Thread
Dpitch 5
angle α
Lead 1.25
R θ
µdF β= l alpha, cos(alpha) 30 0.8660254
dF
N
D pitch Coefficients of friction
θ
( cos α − µβ π )
sin θcos α dF muthrustbearing 0.2
N
muthreads 0.2
dF η raise = beta 0.25
R
(cos α + πµ β ) To RAISE a load
Section of screw shaft thread

( cos α + µβ π ) screwthread efficiency, etaraise 25.16%

Lead angle θ cos θ cos α dFN dF N Force screw shaft thread
η lower = Without thrust bearing
(πµ β − cos α )
applies to the nut thread Force (output) 63.2
– Γ is the applied torque With thrust bearing
Force (output) 25.1
– µ is the coefficient of friction (0.1 typical for greased threads) Linear speed (mm/sec) 2.08
– Dpitch is the pitch diameter of the screw thread To LOWER a load
screwthread efficiency, etalower 54%
– l is the lead of the thread (e.g., mm/revolution) Without thrust bearing
Force (output) 134.6
– D is the bolt head or thrust bearing diameter With thrust bearing
– α is the thread angle (typically 30 degrees for a standard bolt) Force (output) 31.8

• Based on a simple work-in=work-out (torque*one rev=Force*lead (distance/rev) with

efficiency of η:
F desiredl F desired µ D Bolt _ head _ or _ thrust _ bearing
Γ required = +
2πη 2

© 2000 Alexander Slocum 6-4

 leadscrew_design.xls
Screwthread forces
Enter numbers in BOLD, output in RED

Screws: Stresses Written by Alex Slocum, last updated 1/17/03

Force (no help from gravity), thrust (N) 400
Lead, (mm) 2
• Forces generated by screw threads creates tension & torsion Coefficient of friction, mu 0.1
Screw pitch diameter, dscrew (mm) 20
– The thread root is a stress concentration area (on the order of 1.5) Thrust bearing diameter, dthrust (mm) 25
– The stresses, not including the stress concentration, are: Thread angle (deg), alpha (rad) 14.5 0.253
Thread root stress concentration, scf 1.5
Beta 0.1
4 F axial 16 F axial Torque required at screw (N-mm) 542
σ tensile = τ shear = Torque required at thrust bearing (N-mm) 500
π D 2root _ diameter π D 3root _ diameter Total torque (N-mm) 1,042
Backdriveable? NO
Thread efficiency, et 23%
• The Von Mises equivalent stress is: Total system efficiency 12%
Estimated torsional stress (N/mm^2) 0.47
Tensile stress (N/mm^2) 1.57
σ σ + 3τ shear
2 2
tensileequivelent
= tensile Mises equivelant stress (N/mm^2) 2.66
Gearbox ratio 1
• Minimum thread engagement length to avoid shearing: Travel (mm)
Time to travel (s)
50
5
Motor speed (rpm, rad/s) 300 31
Gearbox efficiency 90%
Motor torque (N-mm) 1158

F Shear _ Nut _ Threads = F Bolt _ Tensile

Power (watts) 36

 L Nut   D Thread _ outside _ diameter + DThread _ root _ diameter   σ yield  π D Thread _ root _ diameterσ yield
2

 π     =
 2   2  2  4
L Nut ≈ D Bolt
Root Diameter
Pitch
Diameter Diameter

© 2000 Alexander Slocum 6-5

 Leadscrews: Buckling and Shaft Whip
• Leadscrews in compression can buckle
– Pull on a straw and it slips out of your hands
– Push on a straw and it will “snap in half”
• Buckling is a common failure mode in shafts
• If possible, put shafts in TENSION and avoid the problem!
– Leadscrews can easily generate forces that will make them buckle
• Heavily loaded leadscrews should ideally be used to PULL not PUSH loads!
• The calculations are EASY, DO THEM! (use the ROOT diameter and mks units!)
– Thermal expansion in precision systems can be overcome by pre-stretching a screw
• Leadscrews that spin too fast can excite shaft bending, shaft whip, and cause support bearing failure
EI cEI
ωn = k2 F buckle =
ρ L4 L
2 6000

5000

Critical Speed (rpm)

4000

Cantilevered Simply Supported Fixed-Simple Fixed-Fixed 3000

mode n k c k c k c k c
1 1.875 2.47 3.142 9.87 3.927 20.2 4.730 39.5 2000

2 4.694 6.283 7.069 7.853 1000

3 7.855 9.425 10.210 10.996

0
4 10.996 12.566 13.352 14.137 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00

n (2n-1)π/2 nπ (4n+1)π/4 (2n+1)π/2 Position/Total travel length (m)

© 2000 Alexander Slocum 6-6

Initial leadscrew shape Net shapes after assembly

Initial linear bearing shape Leadscrews: Mounting

• Leadscrews used in robotics contests are often mounted using a radial sleeve bearing at one
end, and journal and thrust bearings at the other end
– The bearings in gear motors are generally not designed to take the huge thrust loads that a
leadscrew can generate
• Beware of constraints: either provide precision or compliance
– The only way to effectively mount a leadscrew to achieve a zero-slope end condition for maximum
buckling resistance is to use a back-to-back arrangement of ball bearings
• This also generally involves the use of a ballscrew and is not used in simple 2.007 machines
• It is easy to make a leadscrew
– Screw threads can be cut directly into round, square, or hexagonal steel stock
• A square or hexagonal hole can be broached into a gear or pulley which can then be pressed
onto the leadscrew

© 2000 Alexander Slocum 6-7

 Leadscrews: Differential Motion
• Differential motion can be used to create most excellent motions:
– Two independently rotating leadscrew nuts on a common screw shaft can
enable components to move in the same or different directions
simultaneously
• See US patent 6,194,859 “X-Y positioner based on X axis motions”
• A leadscrew with left and right hand threads can simultaneously move
components together or apart
– See US patent 4,765,668 " Double End Effector“
• A leadscrew with two different leads can create an incredibly small
virtual lead ♥ Alex Slocum’s first miniature 6
axis robot and double gripper! ♥

How do you get the screw in?!

© 2000 Alexander Slocum 6-8

 Leadscrews: Flexibility

• Leadscrews are used in many everyday applications

– How does a CD drive work?
• Must the pitch of a leadscrew be constant?
– See “Expanding Gripper with Elastically Variable Pitch
Screw”, #5,839,769, Nov. 24, 1998

To reduce friction, could the gripper units’ threads be replaced with inclined
rollers at different angles to achieve different effective leads? (I bet they could!)

© 2000 Alexander Slocum 6-9

 Leadscrews: Contest Machine Design Example
leadscrew_design.xls
Screwthread forces
• How might we evolve a lifting strategy Enter numbers in BOLD, output in RED
into a boom concept? Written by Alex Slocum, last updated 1/17/03
Force (no help from gravity), thrust (N) 400
– What are the forces on the boom Lead, (mm) 2
Coefficient of friction, mu 0.1
and where are they applied? What Screw pitch diameter, dscrew (mm) 20
are its ranges of motion? How fast Thrust bearing diameter, dthrust (mm) 25
Thread angle (deg), alpha (rad) 30 0.524
should it move the load? What is Thread root stress concentration, scf 1.5
the desired resolution of motion? Beta 0.1
Torque required at screw (N-mm) 591
• Use Matlab™ or a spreadsheet to Torque required at thrust bearing (N-mm) 500
Total torque (N-mm) 1,091
study the effects of different design Backdriveable? NO
parameters? Thread efficiency, et 22%
Total system efficiency 12%
Estimated torsional stress (N/mm^2) 0.52
Tensile stress (N/mm^2) 1.57
Mises equivelant stress (N/mm^2) 2.71
Ayr Muir-Harmony’s awesome 2.007 machine!
Gearbox ratio 1
Travel (mm) 50
Time to travel (s) 5
Motor speed (rpm, rad/s) 300 31
Gearbox efficiency 90%
Leadscrew! Motor torque (N-mm) 1213
Power (watts) 38

Y
c A X
α
d e β γ
R f a
Lboom θ
D Fy
φ
Lpiston b
B Fx
© 2000 Alexander Slocum xF, yF 6-10
M