Journal of Computational Science and Technology
Online ISSN : 1881-6894
ISSN-L : 1881-6894
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Synthesis of Bistable Compliant Structures from Truss Mechanisms
Takuya KINOSHITAMakoto OHSAKI
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2009 Volume 3 Issue 2 Pages 417-425

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Abstract

A sequential optimization approach is presented for topology synthesis of bistable compliant frame mechanisms. The truss-element-based approach for design of bistable compliant mechanisms enables us to overcome the difficulties due to local buckling in the optimization process considering geometrical nonlinearity. However, the truss mechanisms has a drawback in practical fabrication; it is impossible to make a singlepiece mechanism because of the existence of pin joints. In this paper, we propose an optimization method for converting a compliant truss mechanism to an equivalent frame mechanism. In our conversion process, some thin elements are placed at the connections as pseudo-joints to adjust the flexibility of the structure. The geometrically nonlinear behavior and the stability of a converted frame mechanism are also investigated. Numerical example demonstrates the effectiveness of our conversion method.

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© 2009 by The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
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