Header logo is

An XY θz flexure mechanism with optimal stiffness properties

2017

Conference Paper

pi


The development of optimal XY θz flexure mechanisms, which can deliver high precision motion about the z-axis, and along the x- and y-axes is highly desirable for a wide range of micro/nano-positioning tasks pertaining to biomedical research, microscopy technologies and various industrial applications. Although maximizing the stiffness ratios is a very critical design requirement, the achievable translational and rotational stiffness ratios of existing XY θz flexure mechanisms are still restricted between 0.5 and 130. As a result, these XY θz flexure mechanisms are unable to fully optimize their workspace and capabilities to reject disturbances. Here, we present an optimal XY θz flexure mechanism, which is designed to have maximum stiffness ratios. Based on finite element analysis (FEA), it has translational stiffness ratio of 248, rotational stiffness ratio of 238 and a large workspace of 2.50 mm × 2.50 mm × 10°. Despite having such a large workspace, FEA also predicts that the proposed mechanism can still achieve a high bandwidth of 70 Hz. In comparison, the bandwidth of similar existing flexure mechanisms that can deflect more than 0.5 mm or 0.5° is typically less than 45 Hz. Hence, the high stiffness ratios of the proposed mechanism are achieved without compromising its dynamic performance. Preliminary experimental results pertaining to the mechanism's translational actuating stiffness and bandwidth were in agreement with the FEA predictions as the deviation was within 10%. In conclusion, the proposed flexure mechanism exhibits superior performance and can be used across a wide range of applications.

Author(s): Lum, G. Z. and Pham, M. T. and Teo, T. J. and Yang, G. and Yeo, S. H. and Sitti, M.
Book Title: 2017 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM)
Pages: 1103-1110
Year: 2017
Month: July
Day: 3

Department(s): Physical Intelligence
Bibtex Type: Conference Paper (inproceedings)

DOI: 10.1109/AIM.2017.8014166

BibTex

@inproceedings{8014166,
  title = {An XY $\theta$ z flexure mechanism with optimal stiffness properties},
  author = {Lum, G. Z. and Pham, M. T. and Teo, T. J. and Yang, G. and Yeo, S. H. and Sitti, M.},
  booktitle = {2017 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM)},
  pages = {1103-1110},
  month = jul,
  year = {2017},
  doi = {10.1109/AIM.2017.8014166},
  month_numeric = {7}
}