Machine Design – May 2019

ball bearings, the number of ball bear-

ings, and the total surface contact area

between the bearings and the thread.

The combination of these parameters

defines the assembly’s load capacity

and, therefore, the resultant life of the

components.

For higher loads, engineers speci-

fy roller screws. In a roller screw, the

load-bearing mechanism is a set of

recirculating rollers instead of balls.

The rollers have more surface contact

area than balls, so the load carrying

capacity increases, and so can the ser-

vice life.

But these benefits come at a pre-

mium. Compared to relatively simple,

time-tested ball screws, roller screws

require extensive upfront precision

machining and more complex assem-

bly. This contributes to the roller

screws’ overall higher costs and larger

installed size.

HIGH-LOAD BALL SCREW

A high-load ball screw developed by

engineers at Thomson Industries uses

a specially designed thread form that

increases load-bearing capacity by a

factor of four to eight compared to tra-

ditional ball screws. This lets designers

use ball screws in almost any applica-

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60 MAY 2019 MACHINE DESIGN

This table shows the advantage of a

high-load ball screw in an application that

requires at least 470 kN of load capacity. A

standard ball screw can handle the job, but

it would have twice the diameter and cost

63% more. A roller screw can also do it, but

only with a nut close to 50% larger, and the

assembly would cost 150% the price of the

high-load ball screw.