Design and Analysis of a Novel Compliant Mechanism with RPR Degrees of Freedom

A novel compliant mechanism with RPR degrees of freedom(DOF)is proposed where R and P represent rotation and translation DOFs,respectively.The proposed compliant mechanism is obtained from dimension synthesizing a 2-RPU-UPR rigid parallel mechanism with the method of optimization of motion/force transfer characteristic.R,P and U represent rotation,translation and universal pairs,respectively.Firstly,inverse kinematics and Jacobian matrix are analyzed for the dimensional synthesis.Then,output transmission indexes of branches in the parallel mechanism are given.Dimensional synthesis is completed based on the normalized design parameter.And optimization of flexure joints based on constrained energy is carried out.Afterwards,the novel compliant mechanism is obtained by direct replacing method.Mechanical model of the compliant mechanism including static stiffness and input stiffness is built based on the pseudo-rigid body modeling method and virtual work principle.Finally,FEA simulation by Ansys Workbench is carried out to verify DOF,effectiveness of the dimension synthesis,and compliant model.Optimization of motion/force transfer characteristic is first applied for the design of compliant mechanisms to suppress drift of rotation axis in the paper.

Optimum Seeking of Redundant Actuators for M-RCM 3-UPU Parallel Mechanism

The singularity problem brings troubles to the design and application for the parallel mechanism.Currently,redun-dant actuation is one of the useful methods to solve this singularity problem.However,faced to the numerous joints in a parallel mechanism,how to make a quantitative criterion of seeking the most efficient joints added actuators for letting the mechanism passes through singularity is a necessarily open issue.This paper focuses on a 2R1T 3-UPU(U for universal joint and P for prismatic joint)parallel mechanism(PM)with two rotational and one translational(2R1T)degrees of freedom(DOFs)and the ability of multiple remote centers of motion(M-RCM).The singularity analysis based on the indexes of motion/force transmissibility and constraint shows that this PM has transmission singular-ity,constraint singularity,mixed singularity and limb singularity.To solve these singular problems,the quantifiable redundancy transmission index(RTI)and the redundancy constraint index(RCI)are proposed for optimum seeking of redundant actuators for this PM.Then the appropriate redundant actuators are selected and the working scheme for redundant actuators near the corresponding singular configuration are given to help the PM passes through the singularity.This research proposes a quantitative criterion to optimum seeking of redundant actuators for the parallel mechanism to solve its singularity.

Configuration Synthesis and Performance Analysis of 9‑Speed Automatic Transmissions

Current research of automatic transmission(AT)mainly focuses on the improvement of driving performance,and configuration innovation is one of the main research directions.However,finding new configurations of ATs is one of the main limitations of configuration innovation.In the present study,epicyclic gear trains(EGTs)are applied to investigate mechanisms of 9-speed ATs.Then four kinematic configurations are proposed for automatic transitions.In order to evaluate the performance of proposed mechanisms,the lever analogy method is applied to conduct kinematic and mechanical analyses.The power flow analysis is conducted,and then transmission efficiencies are calculated based on the torque method.The comparative analysis between the proposed and existing mechanisms is carried out where obtained results show that proposed mechanisms have reasonable performance and can be used in ATs.The prototype of an AT is manufactured and the speed test is conducted,which proves the accuracy of analysis and the feasibility of proposed mechanisms.