Modeling and Simulation of Compliant Mechanisms in MATLAB Simscape
Disciplines
Acoustics, Dynamics, and Controls
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Compliant mechanisms are the mechanisms that transfer the input force, displacement, or torque from one point to another through the deformation of its compliant members and flexible body rather than the joints such as ball bearings. They have superiorities over the traditionally designed mechanisms such that since they can be designed and manufactured as a single piece using injection molding or additive manufacturing, they are light weighted, and no need for assembly and have no friction loss. Thus, the compliant mechanisms have better performance and accuracy and find application areas in the design of locomotive robots, grippers, medical robots, and microelectromechanical (MEMs) devices. Despite all the advantages, deriving the mathematical model of compliant mechanisms is much more challenging compared to traditional rigid body mechanisms as the complexity of the design increases. Although there are several methods available to find the load-deflection curves of flexible members such as pseudo rigid body modeling (PRBM) and the first and second of the Elliptica theory, they are limited to the simple geometries including fixed-free, fixed-guided, and fixed-fixed buckling beams. In this study, we present the design, modeling, and simulation of several compliant mechanisms in MATLAB Simscape. We adopted two approaches: the model can be created using the Simulink library blocks or by importing the cad model and then introducing the flexibility using discrete beam elements. We created the models of a fully compliant five-bar mechanism including 4 rigid bars connected by large deflecting flexure hinges, a compliant dwell mechanism incorporating buckling beams, a slider, and a rail, and a compliant bistable mechanism consisting of 6 rigid bars, a slider, and fixed-free flexible beams. The Simscape models not only provide kinematic insight but also visualizes the displacement and motion of each mechanism in the mechanics explorer.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
SPCEET - Mechanical Engineering
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Ayse Tekes
Modeling and Simulation of Compliant Mechanisms in MATLAB Simscape
Compliant mechanisms are the mechanisms that transfer the input force, displacement, or torque from one point to another through the deformation of its compliant members and flexible body rather than the joints such as ball bearings. They have superiorities over the traditionally designed mechanisms such that since they can be designed and manufactured as a single piece using injection molding or additive manufacturing, they are light weighted, and no need for assembly and have no friction loss. Thus, the compliant mechanisms have better performance and accuracy and find application areas in the design of locomotive robots, grippers, medical robots, and microelectromechanical (MEMs) devices. Despite all the advantages, deriving the mathematical model of compliant mechanisms is much more challenging compared to traditional rigid body mechanisms as the complexity of the design increases. Although there are several methods available to find the load-deflection curves of flexible members such as pseudo rigid body modeling (PRBM) and the first and second of the Elliptica theory, they are limited to the simple geometries including fixed-free, fixed-guided, and fixed-fixed buckling beams. In this study, we present the design, modeling, and simulation of several compliant mechanisms in MATLAB Simscape. We adopted two approaches: the model can be created using the Simulink library blocks or by importing the cad model and then introducing the flexibility using discrete beam elements. We created the models of a fully compliant five-bar mechanism including 4 rigid bars connected by large deflecting flexure hinges, a compliant dwell mechanism incorporating buckling beams, a slider, and a rail, and a compliant bistable mechanism consisting of 6 rigid bars, a slider, and fixed-free flexible beams. The Simscape models not only provide kinematic insight but also visualizes the displacement and motion of each mechanism in the mechanics explorer.