Von Mises stress analysis on compliant-based Hooke's joint using the ANSYS software

Abstract

Kinematically a Hooke's joint is equivalent to a slotted sphere type of a joint which has two degrees of rotational freedom. The original design consists of two identical parts assembled at right angles with respect to each other. To simplify the compliant joint into conventional rigid-body joint the pseudo-rigid-body model technique was used. Hooke's joint whose compliant parts are made of blue polished spring steel (AISI 1080) is considered for stress analysis. Stress analysis of the design performed by analytical method and then finite element analysis is used for comparison. First, both the geometries are sketched with CATIA V5, then finite element analysis was performed for different shaft angles. For finite element analysis, ANSYS 13.0 workbench software is used. Stress values are calculated for the design with 0.5-mm-thick material and for shaft angles 1° to 18°. It is verified that results of experiments are consistent with theoretical approaches. With the help of stress values, yield strength of the compliant-based Hooke's joint may be observed which will further help in defining the life of the compliant-based Hooke's joint. Design of compliant-based Hooke's joint has the advantages of having small number of different parts, ease of manufacturing and compactness.