Design, static analysis and development of a new three-legged shake table

Abstract

In this paper, an alternative design is proposed based on a family of three-legged manipulators. Such manipulators have two actuators (one vertical and one horizontal) in each leg, unlike the standard UP̅S Stewart platform, which has one actuator in each leg. The arrangement of the two actuators is such a way that, to have vertical motion of the shake table only the Vertical Motion Actuators (VMA) are actuated and for longitudinal or lateral motion, the Horizontal Motion Actuators (HMA) alone are moved. Due to its inherent features such as simplified kinematics, control and distributed loading, a study is carried out to determine the performance of such three-legged manipulators as a shake table. Sinusoidal motion and white noise motions are given to the actuators and shown that the VMA forces have linear relationship with the platform forces. The translational stiffness and the torsional stiffness are studied separately for the manipulators. In the dynamic analysis, it is highlighted that the gravity load of the legs is borne by the Vertical actuators, irrespective of the motion being spatial or planar. Hence, this topology provides scope for lighter electromechanical actuation. The performance analysis of the 3 legged configuration is accomplished using simulation results, in comparison to a 7-UP̅S configuration of shake table. A prototype of the shake table is fabricated and tested with earthquake data of El Centro.