Compliant thin-walled joint based on zygoptera nonlinear geometry

Abstract

This paper introduces a Compliant thin-walled joint (CTWJ) that expands the group of existing compliant joints. The CTWJ design is based on the nonlinear geometry of the zygoptera animal. With a thin-walled structure, the CTWJ allows a considerably large range of motion in the x-and-y axes. In addition, the thin-walled structure is then filled by polydimethylsiloxane material to reinforce the stiffness of the CTWJ. First, design of experiment methodology is used for the sensitive analysis of the width and the thickness to the strain of joint. The range of motion, the strain, the buckling behavior, and the first natural frequency of CTWJ are investigated via finite element analysis and experiments. The behavior of the CTWJ is subsequently compared with the conventional compliant joints to realize the efficient performance of the CTWJ. The results revealed that the CTWJ has a range of motion and strain energy larger than those of traditional compliant joints. Finally, an example of vibration isolator is modeled by using the CTWJ as planar spring. It is believed that the CTWJ has a great potential for the development of compliant mechanisms in terms of large range of motions in mutliple axes.