Fixed-Guided Compliant Beam
Research Summary
Fixed-guided compliant segments are the fundamental building blocks of compliant mechanisms. The segment type can take multiple configurations depending on the magnitude and direction of the applied loads, with the most stable configurations containing one point of inflection. Prior work on modeling such segments either constrained the beam end angle to its initial configuration and/or sacrificed on the ease of modeling and/or accuracy of compliant segment and mechanisms. A research effort was thus initiated to develop a comprehensive model that can be applied towards the synthesis and analysis of fixed-guided compliant segments with an inflection point.
Outcomes
Developed a mathematical model to analyze a fixed-guided compliant beam with an inflection point, subject to a variety of end load and/or displacement boundary conditions, using the pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM) concept
Developed three set of equations that govern the mechanics of fixed-guided compliant beams with an inflection point
Presented two theorems that govern the necessary and sufficient conditions for a fixed-guided compliant beam to have an inflection point in its deformed state
Presented a formulation for the synthesis of fixed-guided compliant beam with an inflection-point
Model accuracy is within 3% of the results obtained from closed-formed elliptic integral formulations and finite-element formulation using ANSYS(R)
Published as a journal paper in the Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, and presented in ASME IDETC conference
