Kinematic investigation of tripod sliding universal joints based on coordinate transformation

Abstract

In order to understand the kinematics of the tripod sliding universal joint, its kinematic equations were established based on coordinate transformation and then the effects of the joint angle, the rotating radius of the slide-rods, the length of the output shaft, and the frequency of the input shaft on its kinematics were investigated. The increase of the joint angle or the rotating radius of the slide-rods or the frequency of the input shaft enhances not only the relative motion of the slide-rods, but also the periodic oscillation of the output shaft along the rotating direction. However, increasing length of the output shaft weakens its periodic oscillation and hardly affects the relative motion of the slide-rods. In addition, the increase of the joint angle or the rotating radius of the slide-rods increases the fluctuation of the joint angle, but increasing length of the output shaft reduces it.