Kinematics of Roller Migration in the Planetary Roller Screw Mechanism

This paper develops a kinematic model to predict the axial migration of the rollers relative to the nut in the planetary roller screw mechanism (PRSM). This axial migration is an undesirable phenomenon that can cause binding and eventually lead to the destruction of the mechanism. It is shown that this migration is due to slip at the nut–roller interface, which is caused by a pitch mismatch between the spur-ring gear and the effective nut– roller helical gear pairs. This pitch circle mismatch can be due to manufacturing errors, deformations of the mechanism due to loading, and uncertainty in the radii of contact between the components. This paper derives the angle through which slip occurs and the subsequent axial migration of the roller. It is shown that this roller migration does not affect the overall lead of the PRSM. In addition, the general orbital mechanics, in-plane slip velocity at the nut–roller interface, and the axial slip velocities at the nut–roller and the screw–roller interfaces are also derived. Finally, an example problem is developed using a range of pitch mismatch values for the given roller screw dimensions, and the axial migration and slip velocities are determined.