Analysis of a magnetically geared lead screw

Abstract

Linear magnetic gearboxes (LMG) and magnetic lead screws (MLS) have been shown to be capable of operating at significantly higher volumetric force densities than traditional electromagnetic linear actuators (ELA). However in both such devices the linear translator must be made of magnet material and therefore if the stroke length of the translator is long the cost of the MLS and LMG will become prohibitively high. In this paper a magnetically geared lead screw (MGLS) is investigated and its performance capability is compared with the LMG and MLS. The advantage of the MGLS is that the translator does not contain magnets.