A Unified Kinetostatic Analysis Framework for Planar Compliant and Rigid Body Mechanisms

Abstract

Although many dynamic solvers are available for planar mechanisms, there is no readily accessible static solver that can be used in analysis of planar mechanisms with elastic components which achieve motion utilizing deformation of elastic members. New simulation tools are necessary to better understand the compliant mechanisms and to increase their usage in daily life. This framework was developed to fill this gap in planar mechanism design and analysis. The framework was written in MATLAB and is capable of kinematic and static analysis of planar mechanisms with compliant joints or links. Detailed information on implementation of the code is presented and is followed by the capabilities of the framework. Finally, the simulation results were compared with the Adams software to test the validity of the framework.