The purpose of this research is to study the effect of motion curves on the curvature of variable pitch lead screw (hereinafter VPLS) transmission mechanisms with different meshing elements. The surfaces of VPLS are generated based on various meshing elements with different specified motion curves. There are three kinds of ruled- and one involute-revolution surface meshing elements, and four types of motion curves are studied, which including modified trapezoidal (MT) curve, modified sine (MS) curve, modified constant velocity (MCV) curve, and polynomial (PL) curve. The curvature analyses include the determination of direction of contact line, induced principal radii of curvature, and lubrication angles between the surfaces of VPLS and various meshing elements. The results of this work provide a comparison between the effect of motion curve on the curvature of VPLS transmission mechanisms with different meshing elements.
