Design method for 3D printed compliant mechanisms

Design method for 3D printed compliant mechanisms

Oude Vrielink, Thijs (TU Delft Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering; TU Delft Optical Technologies)

Cacace, L.A. (mentor)
Westerveld, W.J. (graduation committee)
Herder, J.L. (graduation committee)
de Vreugd, Jan (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Mechanical Engineering | Micro-optics and Optomechatronics

2021-10-29

There are strict tolerances on the placement of optical components in high performance optical systems. Compliant alignment mechanisms can be used to meet these tolerances. Conventional manufacturing techniques, such as milling and spark erosion, have been used to produce an extensive library of alignment solutions but are limited in the geometries they can produce. Metal 3D printing (SLM) is a newer manufacturing method that can produce complex geometries in a large design space with unique limitations but has no extensive library of solutions. A design method is proposed to construct building blocks for concept generation as a foundation for this library. The method aims at achieving this by reducing the size of the solution space, dividing it into separate constraint combinations. These constraint combinations and tools to develop them into building blocks are presented as tables with geometries and a flowchart describing their use. The design method is demonstrated by applying it towards the development of a compact, low-mass mechanism with three independent alignment stages. FEM analysis and a prototype in Ti6Al4V are used to explore some of the properties and manufacturability of this demonstration case.

metal 3D printing
SLM
Compliant
Alignment
optics
flexure
additive manufacturing

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2a0a28a0-9492-4a5f-8da6-9ba5f7762c68

Student theses

master thesis

© 2021 Thijs Oude Vrielink