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ScrewThreadsTerminology(Metrology)

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ScrewThreadsTerminology(Metrology)
13.2.
(2)Externalthread.Athreadformedontheoutsideofaworkpieceiscalledexternalthreade.g.,onboltsor
studsetc.
(3)Internalthread.Athreadformedontheinsideofaworkpieceiscalledinternalthreade.g.onanutor
femalescrewgauge.
(4)Multiplestartscrewthread.Thisisproducedbyformingtwoormorehelicalgrooves,equallyspaced
andsimilarlyformedinanaxialsectiononacylinder.Thisgivesaquicktraversewithoutsacrificingcore
strength.
(5)Axisofathread.Thisisimaginarylinerunninglongitudinallythroughthecentreofthescrew.
(6)Hand(Rightorlefthandthreads).Supposeascrewisheldsuchthattheobserverislookingalongthe
axis.Ifapointmovesalongthethreadinclockwisedirectionandthusmovesawayfromtheobserver,the
threadisrighthandandifitmovestowardstheobserver,thethreadislefthand.
(7)Formofthread.Thisistheshapeofthecontourofonecompletethreadasseeninaxialsection.
(8)Crestofthread.Thisisdennedastheprominentpartofthread,whetheritbeexternalorinternal.
(9)Rootofthread.Thisisdefinedasthebottomofthegroovebetweenthetwoflanksofthethread,whether
itbeexternalorinternal.
(10)Flanksofthread.Thesearestraightedgeswhichconnectthecrestwiththeroot.
(11)Angleofthread(Includedangle).Thisistheanglebetweentheflanksorslopeofthethreadmeasured
inanaxialplane.
(12)Flankangle.Theflankanglesaretheanglesbetweenindividualflanksandtheperpendiculartotheaxis
ofthethreadwhichpassesthroughthevertexofthefundamentaltriangle.Theflankangleofasymmetrical
threadiscommonlytermedasthehalfangleofthread.
(13)Pitch.Thepitchofathreadisthedistance,measuredparalleltotheaxisofthethread,between
correspondingpointsonadjacentthreadformsinthesameaxialplaneandonthesamesideofaxis.Thebasic
pitchisequaltotheleaddividedbythenumberofthreadstarts.Ondrawingsofthreadsections,thepitchis
shownasthedistancefromthecentreofonethreadcresttothecentreofthenext,andthisrepresentationis
correctforsinglestartaswellasmultistartthreads.
(14)Lead.Leadistheaxialdistancemovedbythethreadedpart,whenitisgivenonecompleterevolution
aboutitsaxiswithrespecttoafixedmatingthread.Itisnecessarytodistinguishbetweenmeasurementof
leadfrommeasurementofpitch,asuniformityofpitchmeasurementdoesnotassureuniformityoflead.
Variationsineitherleadorpitchcausethefunctionalorvirtualdiameterofthreadtodifferfromthepitch
diameter.
(15)Threadperinch.Thisisthereciprocalofthepitchininches.
(16)Leadangle.Onastraightthread,leadangleistheanglemadebythehelixofthethreadatthepitchline
withplaneperpendiculartotheaxis.Theangleismeasuredinanaxialplane.
(17)Helixangle.Onstraightthread,thehelixangleistheanglemadebythehelixofthethreadatthepitch
linewiththeaxis.Theangleismeasuredinanaxialplane.
(18)Depthofthread.Thisisthedistancefromthecrestortipofthethreadtotherootofthethread
measuredperpendiculartothelongitudinalaxisorthiscouldbedefinedasthedistancemeasuredradially
betweenthemajorandminorcylinders.
(19)Axialthickness.Thisisthedistancebetweentheoppositefacesofthesamethreadmeasuredonthe
pitchcylinderinadirectionparalleltotheaxisofthread.
(20)Fundamentaltriangle.ThisisfoundbyextendingtheflanksandjoiningthepointsBandC.Thusin
Fig.13.2,triangleABCisreferredtoasfundamentaltriangle.HereBC=pitchandtheverticalheightofthe
triangleiscalledtheangularortheoreticaldepth.ThepointAistheapexofthetriangleABC.
(21)Truncation.Athreadissometimestruncatedatthecrestorattherootoratboth

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Fig.13.2.Screwthreadtermsrelatingtoexternalthread.
crestandroot.Thetruncationatthecrestistheradialdistancefromthecresttothenearestapexofthe
fundamentaltriangle.Similarlythetruncationattherootistheradialdistancefromtheroottothenearest
apex.
(22)Addendum.Foranexternalthread,thisisdefinedastheradialdistancebetweenthemajorandpitch
cylinders.Foraninternalthreadthisistheradialdistancebetweentheminorandpitchcylinders.
(23)Dedendum.Thisistheradialdistancebetweenthepitchandminorcylinderforexternalthread,andfor
internalthread,thisistheradialdistancebetweenthemajorandpitchcylinders.
(24)Majordiameter.Incaseofastraightthread,thisisthediameterofthemajorcylinder(imaginary
cylinder,coaxialwiththescrew,whichjusttouchesthecrestsofanexternalthreadortherootofaninternal
thread).Itisoftenreferredtoastheoutsidediameter,crestdiameterorfulldiameterofexternalthreads.
(25)Minordiameter.Incaseofstraightthread,thisisthediameteroftheminorcylinder(animaginary
cylinder,coaxialwiththescrewwhichjusttouchestherootsofanexternalthreadorthecrestofaninternal
thread).Itisoftenreferredtoasrootdiameterorconediameterofexternalthreads.
(26)Effectivediameterorpitchdiameter.Incaseofstraightthread,thisisthediameterofthepitch
cylinder(theimaginarycylinderwhichiscoaxialwiththeaxisofthescrew,andintersectstheflankofthe
threadsinsuchawayastomakethewidthofthreadsandwidthofthespacesbetweenthethreadsequal).If
thepitchcylinderbeimaginedasgeneratedbyastraightlineparalleltotheaxisofscrew,thatstraightlineis
thenreferredtoasthepitchline.Alongthepitchline,thewidthsofthethreadsandthewidthsofthespaces
areequalonaperfectthread.Thisisthemostimportantdimensionatitdecidesthequalityofthefitbetween
thescrewandthenut.
(27)Functional(virtual)diameter.Foranexternalorinternalthread,thisisthepitchdiameterofthe
envelopingthreadofperfectpitch,leadandflankangleshavingfulldepthofengagementbutclearatcrests
androots.Thisisdefinedoveraspecifiedlengthofthread.Thismaybegreaterthanthesimpleeffective
diameterbyanamountduetoerrorsinpitchand
angleofthread.Thevirtualdiameterbeingthemodifiedeffectivediameterbypitchandangleerrors,isthe
mostimportantsingledimensionofascrewthreadgauge.
Inthecaseoftaperscrewthread,theconeangleoftaperformeasurementofeffectivediameter,andwhether
pitchismeasuredalongtheaxisoralongthepitchconegeneratoralsoneedtobespecified.
13.2.1.

ErrorsinThreads.
Inthecaseofplainshaftsandholes,thereisonlyonedimensionwhichhastobeconsidered(i.e.diameter),
anderrorsonthisdimensionifexceedthepermissibletolerance,willjustifytherejectionofpart.Whilein
thecaseofscrewthreadsthereareatleastfiveimportantelementswhichrequireconsiderationanderrorin
anyoneofthesecancauserejectionofthethread.Inroutineproductionallofthesefiveelements(major
diameter,minordiameter,effectivediameter,pitchandangleofthethreadform)mustbecheckedand
methodofgaugingmustbeabletocoveralltheseelements.
Errorsonthemajorandminordiameterswillcauseinterferencewiththematingthread.Duetoerrorsin
theseelements,therootsectionandwallthicknesswillbeless,alsotheflankcontactwillbereducedand
ultimatelythecomponentwillbeweakinstrength.Errorsontheeffectivediameterwillalsoresultin
weakeningoftheassemblyduetointerferencebetweentheflanks.
Similarlypitchandangleerrorsarealsonotdesirableastheycauseaprogressivetighteningandinterference
onassembly.Thesetwoerrorshaveaspecialsignificanceastheycanbepreciselyrelatedtotheeffective
diameter.
Nowwewillconsidercomeerrorsindetailanddefinesometerms.
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13.2.2.

DrunkenThread.
Thisistheonehavingerraticpitch,inwhichtheadvanceofthehelixisirregularinonecompleterevolution
ofthethread.
Threaddrunkennessisaparticularcaseofaperiodicpitcherrorrecurringatintervalsofonepitch.Insucha
thread,thepitchmeasuredparalleltothethreadaxiswillalwaysbecorrect,theonlyerrorbeingthatthe
threadisnotcuttoatruehelix.Ifthescrewthreadberegardedasaninclinedplanewoundaroundacylinder
andifthethreadbeunwoundfromthecylinder,(i.e.developmentofthethreadbetaken)thenthe
drunkennesscanbevisualised.Thehelixwillbeacurveinthecaseofdrunkenthreadandnotastraightline
asshowninFig.13.3.

Fig.13.3.Drunkenthread.
Itisverydifficulttodeterminesucherrorsandmoreovertheydonothaveanygreateffectontheworking
unlessthethreadisofverylargesize.
13.2.3.

PitchErrorsinScrewThreads.
Generallythethreadsaregeneratedbyapointcuttingtool.Inthiscase,forpitchtobecorrect,theratioofthe
linearvelocityoftoolandangularvelocityoftheworkmustbecorrectandthisratiomustbemaintained
constant,otherwisepitcherrorswilloccur.Ifthereissomeerrorinpitch,thenthetotallengthofthread
engagedwillbeeithertoogreatortoosmall,thetotalpitcherrorinoveralllengthofthethreadbeingcalled
thecumulativepitcherror.Variouspitcherrorscanbeclassifiedas:
13.2.3.1.

ProgressivePitchError.
Thiserroroccurswhenthetoolworkvelocityratioisincorrectthoughitmaybeconstant.Itcanalsobe
causedduetopitcherrorsintheleadscrewofthelatheorothergeneratingmachine.
Theotherpossibilityisbyusinganincorrectgearoranapproximategeartrainbetweenworkandleadscrew
e.g.,whilemetricthreadsarecutwithaninchpitchleadscrewandatranslatorygearisnotavailable.A
graphbetweenthecumulativepitcherrorandthelengthofthreadisgenerallyastraightlineincaseof
progressivepitcherror(Fig.13.4).
13.2.3.2.

PeriodicPitchError.
Thisrepeatsitselfatregularintervalsalongthethread.Inthiscase,successiveportionsofthethreadare
eitherlongerorshorterthanthemean.Thistypeoferroroccurswhenthetoolworkvelocityratioisnot
constant.Thistypeoferroralsoresultswhenathreadiscutfromaleadscrewwhichlackssquarenessin

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Fig.13.4.ProgressiveError.

Fig.13.5.PeriodicError.
theabutmentcausingtheleadscrewtomovebackwardandforwardonceineachrevolution.Thustheerrors
duetothesecasesarecyclicandpitchincreasestoamaximum,thenreducesthroughnormalvaluetoa
minimumandsoon.Thegraphbetweenthecumulativepitcherrorandlengthofthreadsforthiserrorwill,
therefore,beofsinusoidalform.
13.2.3.3.

IrregularErrors.
Thesearisefromdisturbancesinthemachiningsetup,variationsinthecuttingpropertiesofmaterialetc.
Thustheyhavenospecificcausesandcorrespondinglynospecificcharacteristicsalso.Theseerrorscouldbe
summarisedasfollows:
ErraticPitch.Thisistheirregularerrorinpitchandvariesirregularlyinmagnitudeoverdifferentlengthsof
thread.
ProgressiveError.Whenthepitchofascrewisuniform,butisshorterorlongerthanitsnominalvalue,itis
saidtohaveprogressiveerror.
PeriodicError.Iftheerrorsvaryinmagnitudeandrecuratregularintervals,whenmeasuredfromthreadto
threadalongthescrewarereferredtoasperiodicerrors.
Nextpost:EffectofPitchErrors(Metrology)
Previouspost:MetrologyofScrewThread(Metrology)

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