Dynamic Analysis of Compliant LEG of a Stewart-Gough Type Parallel Mechanism

Abstract

It is important to test all the functional modules of the space systems before it is being launched. The very stringent tests need to be conducted particularly for manned missions. The vibration is one of the most significant phenomena involved in testing of space systems. As the system faces periodic as well as random vibrations containing both high and low frequency components, testing its responses under the same type of vibration will help in making more realistic observations. Stewart-Gough type platform is the predominantly used platform to test space systems. The existing platforms are operated at low frequency and are capable of producing low frequency response only. In this paper, a single compliant leg is introduced in Stewart-Gough type platform. The respective model is developed and analyzed to investigate the effect of leg compliance on the dynamics of platform. It is to understand whether the compliant arrangement in the leg itself will generate required high frequency component along with the low frequency (generated by leg actuator) component or an additional high frequency actuation is required. The result shows that the top platform can generate an extra high frequency response at resonance conditions in addition to the low frequency response corresponding to the input which regarded a significant contribution to the system.