A Multiscale Accuracy Degradation Prediction Method of Planetary Roller Screw Mechanism Based on Fractal Theory Considering Thread Surface Roughness

Abstract

The wear problems are vital to the planetary roller screw mechanism (PRSM) as they have a great influence on transmission accuracy, working efficiency, and service life. However, the wear characteristics of the PRSM have been rarely investigated in the past. In this paper, a multiscale adhesive wear model is established by incorporating the effective wear coefficient and considering the thread surface roughness. The variation of surface roughness is characterized by the two-dimension Majumdar–Bhushan (MB) function. The multi-asperity contact regimes are used to estimate microcontact mechanics of the rough interface. Moreover, the influences of surface roughness, material properties, and working conditions on the wear depth and precision loss of the PRSM are studied in detail. The results reveal that as the surface roughness increases, the total actual contact area, wear depth, and precision loss rate rise. In addition, the adhesive wear increases with the growth of the axial load, and decreases with the increase in the material hardness and material elastic modulus ratio to a certain extent. The investigation opens up a theoretical methodology to predict the wear volume and precision loss with regard to thread surface roughness, which lays the foundation for the design, manufacturing, and application of the PRSM.