What is Power Screw?

• Power Screw is a drive used in machinery to convert rotary motion

into translatory (linear) motion for power transmission.
• It produces uniform motion and the design of power screw may be
such that:
a. Either the screw or nut is held at rest and the other member rotates
as it moves axially. E.g. Screw Clamp.
b. Either the nut or the screw rotates but does not move axially. E.g.
press
 Why are they used?

• Power screw are used for following three reasons:

a. To obtain high mechanical advantage in order to move large loads

with minimum efforts. E.g. Screw Jack
b. To generate large forces. E.g. A compactor presses
c. To obtain precise axial movements. E.g. Leadscrew of Lathe
 Applications of Power Screw
• Jack Screw
• Lead Screw of lathe
• Screw for vices
• Presses
• C-Clamps
• Testing Machine
• Machine tools (for positioning of table)
 Stresses in Power Screw
• A Power Screw must have adequate strength to withstand axial load and the
applied torque.

1. Direct tensile or compressive stress due to axial load:

 Direct stress = Axial load / Minimum cross sectional area of screw

But this is only applicable when axial load is compressive and unsupported
length of the screw between the load and nut is short.
But when screw is axially loaded and unsupported length of screw between
load and nut is too great, the design is based on column theory. In such cases,
C/s area corresponding to core diameter is obtained by J B Johnson’s formula
given below:
2. Torsional Shear Stress:
 Since the Screw is subjected to twisting moment, therefore torsional shear stress
is induced.

Torque transmitted by the Screw, OR Shear Stress induced,

 If the screw is subjected to both direct stress and torsional stress, then the design
is based on maximum shear stress theory, therefore maximum shear stress is given
by
3. Shear Stress due to axial load:
The thread of screw at core diameter and thread of nut at the major diameter may
shear due to axial load.
Considering uniformly distributed load over threads,

Shear Stress for screw, Shear Stress for nut,

4. Bearing Pressure:
To reduce wear of the screw and nut, the bearing pressure on the thread surfaces
must be within limits.
The bearing pressure depends upon:
1. Material of screw and nut.
2. Relative velocity between the nut and screw.
3. Nature of lubrication.
Considering uniformly distributed load over the threads in contact, bearing
pressure is given by,