Corner-filleted Flexure Hinges Research Articles

Analytical model of displacement amplification and stiffness optimization for a class of flexure-based compliant mechanisms

The paper formulates an analytical method for displacement and stiffness calculations of planar compliant mechanisms with single-axis flexure hinges. The procedure is based on the strain energy and Castigliano’s displacement theorem and produces closed-form equations that incorporate the compliances characterizing any analytically-defined hinge, together with the other geometric and material properties of the compliant mechanism. Displacement amplification, input stiffness and output stiffness calculations can simply be performed for any serial compliant mechanism. The class of amplifying compliant mechanisms that contain symmetric corner-filleted or circular flexure hinges is specifically addressed here. A parametric study of the mechanism performance is performed, based on the mathematical model, and an optimization procedure is proposed, based on Lagrange’s multipliers and Kuhn–Tucker conditions, which identifies the design vector that maximizes the performance of these flexure-based compliant mechanisms. Independent finite element simulation confirms the analytical model predictions.

Design of Circular Cross-Section Corner-Filleted Flexure Hinges for Three-Dimensional Compliant Mechanisms

The paper introduces the circular cross-section corner-filleted flexure hinges as connectors in three-dimensional compliant mechanism applications. Compliance factors are derived analytically for bending, axial loading and torsion. A circular cross-section corner-filleted flexure hinge belongs to a domain delimited by the cylinder (no fillet) and the right circular cross-section flexure hinge (maximum fillet radius). The analytical model predictions are confirmed by finite element simulation and experimental measurements. The circular cross-section corner-filleted flexure hinges are characterized in terms of their compliance, precision of rotation and stress levels.

Erratum: “Corner-Filleted Flexure Hinges” [ASME J. Mech. Des., 123, No. 3, pp. 346–352

Erratum: “Corner-Filleted Flexure Hinges” [ASME J. Mech. Des., 123, No. 3, pp. 346–352

Corner-Filleted Flexure Hinges

The paper presents an analytical approach to corner-filleted flexure hinges. Closed- form solutions are derived for the in-plane compliance factors. It is demonstrated that the corner-filleted flexure hinge spans a domain delimited by the simple beam and the right circular flexure hinge. A comparison that is made with the right circular flexure hinges indicates that the corner-filleted flexures are more bending-compliant and induce lower stresses but are less precise in rotation. The finite element simulation and experimental results confirmed the model predictions.