Abstract
A serial 2D planar compliant mechanism has been proposed based on novel "S-shaped" flexure hinges for atomic force microscopy applications. The bridge-lever type mechanism driven by piezoelectric actuators serves as a displacement amplifier. The optimal geometrical parameters were found to maximize the workspace and natural frequency through the Monte-Carlo search algorithm. Also, the performance of the developed system was investigated by Matrix-based Compliance Modeling (MCM), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and experiments. All models indicate that the mechanism has an approximately linear force-deflection relationship, high safety factor, and a reasonable amplification ratio of about 4.5 and 5.5 for the inner and outer stages in the analytical approach, 4.4 and 5.3 in FEA. Finally, experiments on a fabricated open-loop controlled prototype revealed 4.2 and 5.1 amplification ratio for stages that resulted in a 94 × 124 μm rectangular workspace and a natural frequency of 224.6 Hz, which is about 5% lower than the results predicted using FEA.
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