Lead Screw Torque and Efficiency Calculations

The information presented in this blog post is for educational purposes only. It should not be used for engineering design or relied upon as engineering advice.

Lead screws, also known as power screws, are useful mechanisms for converting rotary motion into linear motion. Leads screws are often used to apply large forces because they can be designed to have a large mechanical advantage. However, the friction present in lead screws can lead to low efficiencies. The EngineeringPaper.xyz sheet below shows how to calculate the torques, efficiency, and self-locking criteria for lead screws. 

This lead screws calculations example sheet may also be opened in a separate tab.

Calculating Lead Screw Torques and Efficiency
by u/mgreminger in EngineeringPaperXYZ