Modeling 3D revolute joint with clearance and contact stiffness

The clearances in the kinematic joints are due to deformations, wear, and manufacturing errors; the accurate modeling of these effects in multibody analysis is a complex issue but in many practical applications, it is mandatory to take into them into account in order to understand the actual behavior of mechanical systems. In this paper, the authors present a general computer-aided model of a 3D revolute joint with clearance suitable for implementation in multibody dynamic solvers. While a perfect revolute joint imposes kinematic constraints, the proposed revolute joint with clearance leads to a force constraint. The revolute joint has been modeled by introducing a nonlinear equivalent force system, which takes into account the contact elastic deformations. The model depends on the structural and geometrical properties of materials in contact that have been investigated using finite element models. The purpose is to give a general approach to study the influence of actual joints on kinematic, dynamic, and structural behavior of mechanisms. The proposed model has been applied in dynamic simulations of a spatial slider-crank mechanism.     

Reliability Index and Failure Probability

Abstract

Numerical algorithms for the solution of nonlinear algebraic equation systems are discussed. Special application to the mechanism and multibody system kinematic analysis, as well as to the problems of constraint stabilization during dynamics simulation is regarded. Special attention is paid to the approaches of a separate solution of the differential equations and constraint stabilization. Numerical procedures that are effective additions to the well-known algorithms based on the Newton-Raphson method are presented. The problems of loss of precision and achievement of large unreal increments of the varying parameters are discussed. The traditional Newton-Raphson method is modified by applying a step reduction procedure that is developed numerically for the symbolic form of kinematic and dynamic equations. An optimization method for stabilization of constraints using the mass matrix of dynamic equations is suggested. According to the objective function defined the stabilization procedure provides minimal deviations of the parameters and their velocities with respect to the solution of the differential equations. No generalized coordinate partitioning is required either for solution of the dynamic equations or for stabilization of the constraints. Several examples of kinematic analysis of single and four contour plane mechanisms and constraint stabilization are solved, and the results are compared. The advantages of the algorithms developed are tested with a high-degree of initial deviation from the real solution. It is also shown that the step correction algorithm could provide admissible solution even when, in many cases, the classical approaches are not reliable. An example of the direct and inverse kinematic problem solutions of the four-degrees-of-freedom spatial platform is presented.     

A divide and conquer algorithm for constrained multibody system dynamics based on augmented Lagrangian method with projections-based error correction

This paper presents a?new parallel algorithm for dynamics simulation of general multibody systems. The developed formulations are iterative and possess divide and conquer structure. The constraints equations are imposed at the acceleration level. Augmented Lagrangian methods with mass-orthogonal projections are used to prevent from constraint violation errors. The proposed approaches treat tree topology mechanisms or multibody systems which contain kinematic closed loops in a?uniform manner and can handle problems with rank deficient Jacobian matrices. Test case results indicate good accuracy performance dependent on the expense put in the iterative correction of constraint equations. Good numerical properties and robustness of the algorithms are observed when handling systems with single and coupled kinematic loops, redundant constraints, which may repeatedly enter singular configurations.     

Spatial rigid-multibody systems with lubricated spherical clearance joints: modeling and simulation

The dynamic modeling and simulation of spatial rigid-multibody systems with lubricated spherical joints is the main purpose of the present work. This issue is of paramount importance in the analysis and design of realistic multibody mechanical systems undergoing spatial motion. When the spherical clearance joint is modeled as dry contact; i.e., when there is no lubricant between the mechanical elements which constitute the joint, a body-to-body (typically metal-to-metal) contact takes place. The joint reaction forces in this case are evaluated through a Hertzian-based contact law. A hysteretic damping factor is included in the dry contact force model to account for the energy dissipation during the contact process. The presence of a fluid lubricant avoids the direct metal-to-metal contact. In this situation, the squeeze film action, due to the relative approaching motion between the mechanical joint elements, is considered utilizing the lubrication theory associated with the spherical bearings. In both cases, the intra-joint reaction forces are evaluated as functions of the geometrical, kinematical, and physical characteristics of the spherical joint. These forces are then incorporated into a standard formulation of the system’s governing equations of motion as generalized external forces. A spatial four bar mechanism that includes a spherical clearance joint is considered here as an example. The computational simulations are carried out with and without the fluid lubricant, and the results are compared with those obtained when the system is modeled with perfect joints only. From the general results, it is observed that the system’s performance with lubricant effect presents fewer peaks in the kinematic and dynamic outputs, when compared with those from the dry contact joint model.     

Design and analysis of a compliant parallel pan-tilt platform

In combination of the advantages of both parallel mechanisms and compliant mechanisms, a compliant parallel mechanism with two rotational degrees of freedom is designed to meet the requirement of a lightweight and compact pan-tilt platform. Firstly, two commonly-used design methods i.e. direct substitution and Freedom and Constraint Topology are applied to design the configuration of the pan-tilt system, and similarities and differences of the two design alternatives are compared. Then inverse kinematic analysis of the candidate mechanism is implemented by using the pseudo-rigid-body model, and the Jacobian related to its differential kinematics is further derived to help designer realize dynamic analysis of the 8R compliant mechanism. In addition, the mechanism’s maximum stress existing within its workspace is tested by finite element analysis. Finally, a method to determine joint damping of the flexure hinge is presented, which aims at exploring the effect of joint damping on actuator selection and real-time control. To the authors’ knowledge, almost no existing literature concerns with this issue.     

A new kinematic model for the closure equations of the generalized Stewart platform mechanism

The paper deals with the direct position analysis of the six degrees of freedom parallel manipulator known as generalized Stewart Platform Mechanism. When a set of actuator displacements is given the mechanism becomes a statically determined structure and the analysis solves for the closure of the structure. The governing equations are non-linear and many solutions are possible. Kinematic models reported in the literature relate to systems of six equations in six unknowns, which are solved numerically because of their complexity. Based on a novel approach, a new kinematic model of the structure is presented in this paper. It leads to a system of three equations in three unknowns that greatly reduces the computational burden. Finally, a case study has been reported.Paper presented at 2nd Int. Workshop on Advanced Robot Kinematics, Linz, Austria, 10–12 September, 1990.     

Finite element modeling of contact conditions in multibody system dynamics

In this paper a new method is developed for the dynamic analysis of contact conditions in flexible multibody systems undergoing a rolling type of motion. The relative motion between the two contacting bodies is treated as a constraint condition describing their kinematic and geometric relations. Equations of motion of the system are presented in a matrix form making use of Kane's equations and finite element method. The method developed has been implemented in a general purpose program called DARS and applied to the simulation and analysis of a rotating wheel on a track. Both the bodies are assumed flexible and discretized using a three dimensional 8-noded isoparametric elements. The time variant constraint conditions are imposed on the nodal points located at the peripheral surfaces of the bodies under consideration. The simulation is carried out under two different boundary conditions describing the support of the track. The subsequent constraint forces associated with the generalized coordinates of the system are computed and plotted. The effects of friction are also discussed.     

Mobility and spatiality of parallel robots revisited via theory of linear transformations

Parallel robots are extensively used for various applications including manipulation, machining, guiding, testing and control. The mechanical architecture of parallel robots is based on parallel mechanisms in which a mobile platform is connected to a reference element by at least two legs. Mobility and spatiality are the main structural and kinematic parameters of a parallel robot. These two parameters are defined via the theory of linear transformation and can be easily determined by inspection using the definitions, properties and theorems introduced in this paper. An analytical method to compute these parameters is also presented just for verification and for a better understanding of their meanings. The new formalism presented in this paper is based on spatiality of an elementary open kinematic chain and relative spatiality between two elements of a closed kinematic chain. As far as we are aware, this paper demonstrates for the first time a new formula for calculation of general (full-cycle) mobility of parallel robots that overcomes the drawbacks of Chebychev–Grübler–Kutzbach's mobility criterion largely used for mobility calculation of multi-loop mechanisms. This new formula is easily applicable to parallel robotic manipulators with elementary or complex legs and mobility calculation does not involve the setting up of instantaneous constraint systems associated to the parallel mechanism.     

Modeling of multibody systems with redundant joints

This paper deals with the modeling of a multibody system in which some pairs of bodies are connected by more than one joints with the same kinematic constraints. In such system, the redundant joints must be removed out artificially to ensure the solvable condition of the equations of motion being satisfied. It is believed but not obvious that the redundant joints have no effect on the system acceleration. We give a strict positive proof of this argument and present a method to avoid the ambiguity in the reaction forces of redundant joints through contact analysis of joints.     

Dynamic recursive decoupling method for closed-loop flexible mechanical systems

In this paper, a new method for the dynamic analysis of a closed-loop flexible kinematic mechanical system is presented. The kinematic and force models are developed using absolute reference, joint relative, and elastic coordinates as well as joint reaction forces. This recursive formulation leads to a system of loosely coupled equations of motion. In a closed-loop kinematic chain, cuts are made at selected auxiliary joints in order to form spanning tree structures. Compatibility conditions and reaction force relationships at the auxiliary joints are adjoined to the equations of open-loop mechanical systems in order to form closed-loop dynamic equations. Using the sparse matrix structure of these equations and the fact that the joint reaction forces associated with elastic degrees of freedom do not represent independent variables, a method for decoupling the joint and elastic accelerations is developed. Unlike existing recursive formulations, this method does not require inverse or factorization of large non-linear matrices. It leads to small systems of equations whose dimensions are independent of the number of elastic degrees of freedom. The application of dynamic decoupling method in dynamic analysis of closed-loop deformable multibody systems is also discussed in this paper. The use of the numerical algorithm developed in this investigation is illustrated by a closed-loop flexible four-bar mechanism.     

Kronecker product and a new matrix form of Lagrangian equations with multipliers for constrained multibody systems

The automatic derivation of motion equations is an important problem of multibody system dynamics. Firstly, an overview of the matrix calculus related to Kronecker product of two matrices is presented. A new matrix form of Lagrangian equations with multipliers for constrained multibody systems is then developed to demonstrate the usefulness of Kronecker product of two matrices in the study of dynamics of multibody systems. Finally, the equations of motion of mechanisms are derived using the proposed matrix form of Lagrangian equations as application examples.     

Theory of plastic mechanism control for the seismic design of braced frames equipped with friction dampers

An innovative approach for the design of a seismic resistant system composed by the combination of a MR-Frame and a bracing system equipped with friction dampers is presented. From a multi-scale point of view, at local scale, supplementary energy dissipation is provided by means of friction dampers, while, at global scale, the development of a global type mechanism is assured involving all the friction dampers equipping the structure. The activation of all the friction dampers requires an advanced design procedure. Toward this end, the theory of plastic mechanism control, which is based on the application of the kinematic theorem of plastic collapse is extended to the concept of mechanism equilibrium curve, is applied. The fulfillment of the design goal has been pointed out by means of both pushover and dynamic non linear analyses whose results are herein presented and discussed.     

大变形柔性多体系统非线性动力学数值仿真与实验研究

提出了一种作大范围运动柔性梁的非接触动态测试技术.在基于位移的柔性多体系统几何精确建模及非线性有限元分析技术的基础上,利用EAGLE-500运动分析系统及其相应的分析软件对作大范围运动钛合金柔性梁作了实验研究,并且利用之前提出的几何精确梁理论进行数值仿真.数值仿真结果与实验结果完全吻合,验证了作者所提的几何精确梁理论及...     

Par2: a spatial mechanism for fast planar two-degree-of-freedom pick-and-place applications

This paper introduces a new two-degree-of-freedom (dof) parallel manipulator producing two translations in the vertical plane. One drawback of existing robots built to realize these dof is their lack of transversal stiffness, another one being their limited ability to provide very high acceleration. Indeed, these architectures cannot be lightweight and stiff at the same time. The proposed parallel architecture is a spatial mechanism which guarantees a good transversal stiffness. It is composed by two actuated kinematic chains, and two passive chains built in the transversal plane. The key feature of this robot comes from the two passive chains which are coupled to create a kinematic constraint: the platform stays in one plane. A stiffness analysis shows that the robot can be lighter and stiffer than a classical 2-dof mechanism. A prototype of this robot is presented and preliminary tests show that accelerations above 400 ms⁻¹ can be achieved while keeping a low tracking error.     

Motion of Planar Link Mechanisms Revisited

The problem of finding the positions of a four-bar linkage at which the coupler link and rocker have extreme angular velocities is solved. A method is proposed for kinematic analysis of class III mechanisms. The method is based on joining a fictitious link to the original mechanism. The kinematic analysis of a class III mechanism is reduced to successive kinematic analyses of two four-bar linkages     

An Augmented Formulation for Mechanical Systems with Non-Generalized Coordinates: Application to Rigid Body Contact Problems

In computational multibody algorithms, the kinematic constraintequations that describe mechanical joints and specified motiontrajectories must be satisfied at the position, velocity andacceleration levels. For most commonly used constraint equations, onlyfirst and second partial derivatives of position vectors with respect tothe generalized coordinates are required in order to define theconstraint Jacobian matrix and the first and second derivatives of theconstraints with respect to time. When the kinematic and dynamicequations of the multibody systems are formulated in terms of a mixedset of generalized and non-generalized coordinates, higher partialderivatives with respect to these non-generalized coordinates arerequired, and the neglect of these derivatives can lead to significanterrors. In this paper, the implementation of a contact model in generalmultibody algorithms is presented as an example of mechanical systemswith non-generalized coordinates. The kinematic equations that describethe contact between two surfaces of two bodies in the multibody systemare formulated in terms of the system generalized coordinates and thesurface parameters. Each contact surface is defined using twoindependent parameters that completely define the tangent and normalvectors at an arbitrary point on the body surface. In the contact modeldeveloped in this study, the points of contact are searched for on lineduring the dynamic simulation by solving the nonlinear differential andalgebraic equations of the constrained multibody system. It isdemonstrated in this paper that in the case of a point contact andregular surfaces, there is only one independent generalized contactconstraint force despite the fact that five constraint equations areused to enforce the contact conditions.     

刚柔耦合约束多体系统的动力分析

本文提出了描述柔性多体系统的牵连坐标系统。该系统由惯性参考系,牵连坐标系,物体坐标系及单元坐标系组成,实现了对刚体平动,刚体转动及弹性运动的连续分解,最大限度地消除了由于刚体大角度转动导致的非线性特性。以有限元法为基础,应用拉格朗日方程建立了在该坐标下的刚柔耦合约束多体系统的动力学控制方程。该方程具有耦合程度小、易于推导、编程及求解等优点,为大规模约束多体系统的动力分析提供了新的途径。本文还讨论了平面铰链约束的约束形式及约束方程,最后给出了一个典型多体系统的数值算例。     

多体系统动力学动态最优化设计与灵敏度分析

基于多体系统的动态最优化设计过程包括传统的多体系统仿真分析、系统设计灵敏度分析、 系统最优化设计等过程, 针对多体系统运动学、用二阶常微分方程和微分代数方程描述 的动力学,基于含设计参数的通用数学模型及通用的积分型目标函数,采用高效的系统灵 敏度分析伴随变量方法及易于实施的惩罚函数最优设计方法,建立了多体系统最优设计数学 模型和算法. 通过双摆系统、曲柄-滑块系统、弹簧/阻尼器-滑块系统3个算例对上述 算法的有效性进行了验证.     

A multi level approach to synthesis of planar mechanisms

A multi level approach to synthesis of planar mechanisms is presented. The approach covers both structural and dimensional synthesis of planar rigid body mechanisms containing revolute and translational joints. The synthesis is based on four different criteria. Firstly the type of mechanism is chosen with a view to get the simplest mechanism that satisfactorily fulfills the remaining three criteria. Two of these criteria are formulated as constraints on the kinematic behavior and the total area occupied by the mechanism, respectively. The fourth criteria is simply the desired minimization of the reactive forces/moments that appear in the mechanism. The desired kinematic behavior is based on a finite number, typically 1, ..., 6, of points in time (positions of the mechanism) where the position and orientation of up to two output bodies may be prescribed. The constraints on occupied areas are labelled territory constraints and formulated as a number of restricted areas (boxes). A synthesis is automatically performed at five levels. At the first level the structure of the mechanism is decided. At the second level initial dimensions for the given type of mechanism are found by random checking. At the third level the constraints on the kinematic behavior is fulfilled. At the fourth level the territory constraints are taken into account and, finally, at the fifth level the minimization of reactions is carried out. The entire approach has been implemented in a software package SYNMEC that runs on PCs and constitutes a way of performing the synthesis of a mechanism that is general and flexible with respect to both the type of mechanism that may be synthesized as well as the desired behavior upon which the synthesis is based.