Averaging effect on pitch errors in hydrostatic lead screws considering helical recess layout and nut misalignment

Abstract

The hydrostatic nut usually has different helical recess layouts and the nut misalignment (including radial displacement and tilt) may occur during movement, which will influence the averaging effect on pitch errors, i.e. the motion accuracy of the hydrostatic nut. This paper researches the averaging effect on pitch errors in capillary compensated hydrostatic lead screws, under low speeds and considering the helical recess layout and the nut misalignment. Based on the equivalent plane of the flank surface of threads, whose normal clearance is calculated by vector operations, the Reynolds equation and the flow continuity equation are solved using the finite difference method. The results show that (a) the averaging coefficient presents bulges at corresponding spatial frequencies for the hydrostatic nut with discontinuous helical recesses, (b) the positions of the first and second periodical fluctuations of the averaging coefficient are the same for the hydrostatic nut with symmetric continuous helical recesses, symmetric discontinuous helical recesses, or asymmetric continuous helical recesses, and (c) The nut misalignment has little influence on the averaging coefficient.