Lateral torsional buckling in translational and rotational compliant joints to obtain zero-stiffness behaviour

Compliant mechanisms are a popular alternative to conventional mechanisms because of their advantages on mass reduction, friction, backlash and lubrication. However, the major drawback in the use of compliant mechanisms is the stiffness is the desired direction of motion. The advantages of conventional and compliant mechanisms can be combined if...

Design optimization for a kinematic coupling for use in vacuum with minimum particle generation

In the semiconductor industry, integrated circuits with nanometre scale structures are manufactured on silicon wafers. Particle contamination on the topside of the wafer can result in the defectivity of the entire die. In the ever-increasing efforts to create smaller structures onto a wafer particle contamination becomes more restrictive to...

Utilizing manufacturing-induced stresses for obtaining non-monostable compliant mechanisms

A broad range of bistable, multi-stable and neutrally stable compliant mechanisms have been developed over the years. These non-monostable systems show great potential for deployment in e.g. the medical, the manufacturing and the precision industry. Often the presence of prestress is a requirement for obtaining non-monostability within the realm...

Sketching with Tangibility: An intuitive approach to design products based on flexibility

The principles of compliant mechanisms have been available to engineering students, students of mechanical engineering. Designers or design students had very little understanding of the principles behind making compliant things(Appendix B- Interviews). <br/><br/>Through the course of this project, the relevance of compliant products to designers...

Approximate geometric non-linear analysis in topology optimization: A novel kind of structural analysis for topology optimization of finite range compliant mechanisms

Density-based topology optimization, when used to design structures that show geometrical non-linear behaviour, currently faces computational effort and stability issues. These issues are caused by the iterative method used in geometric non-linear structural analysis. On top of taking much computational effort to complete, this method encounters...

Topology optimization of compliant mechanisms: With focus on overheating prevention during Additive Manufacturing

A compliant mechanism (CM) is a special kind of mechanism which has seen an increase in use in various high-tech applications. A CM is a structure designed with the intention to deform: motion is achieved by deformation of flexible members of its body. CMs are designed by topology optimization (TO) algorithms, which use boundary conditions as an...

Three-step method to design the preload of geometries to create spatial large range of motion zero-stiffness compliant mechanisms

Manipulating post-buckled compliant mechanisms: Buckling mode interaction as a novel method of stiffness compensation

Bistable vibration energy harvesters are an interesting alternative to their linear counterparts. They allow for large amplitude oscillations between their stable equilibria, from which much energy can be generated. However, the stable equilibria are separated by a potential energy barrier that has to be overcome. Therefore, we cannot guarantee...

Conceptual design of a compliant hip orthosis for Trendelenburg gait

Trendelenburg gait is an abnormal gait that occurs when hip abduction muscles are weakened. These weakened muscles cannot deliver enough force to prevent the pelvis from drooping when standing on one leg. This results in an abnormal gait where the upper body sways from left to right to keep the center of gravity above the standing foot. Besides...

Towards Neutrally Stable Compliant Shells

Elastic neutral stability involves elastic deformation without stiffness or loads. It is a remarkable appearance, since the deformation of materials is normally associated with an increase of potential energy and a resulting opposing reaction force or moment. Neutrally stable mechanisms can be used to overcome unnecessary actuation which makes...

Modeling of a compliant force distribution mechanism: For a deforming hydrostatic bearing

Hydrostatic bearings are well known for having low friction and low wear in combination with high loading capacity.Traditionally, the running surfaces for a hydrostatic bearing are plane, rigid and smooth, ensuring a parallel lubricating film in the full range of movement. In this paper, we consider a new type of compliant, hydrostatic bearing...

The design of a monolithic, compliant, resonant running robot at insect scale

Running robots at insect scale are an upcoming research field, because of their numerous potential applications like exploration of hazardous environments such as collapsed buildings, natural disaster sites and debris. To date no report exists on such a robot that either exploits its resonance, or that is monolithic. These properties, however,...

The design of a compliant shape-preserving ring

Compliant shape-preserving mechanisms fullfil a tiny niche within the established research field of compliant mechanisms. To date no report exists on a compliant shape-preserving ring, that is while these mechanisms can give rise to a multitude of practical applications. They can essentially act as novel sealing mechanisms, compliant grippers or...