A novel analytical model for flexure-based proportion compliant mechanisms

This paper proposes a novel analytical model for flexure-based proportion compliant mechanisms. The displacement and stiffness calculations of such flexure-based compliant mechanisms are formulated based on the principle of virtual work and pseudo rigid body model(PRBM). According to the theory and method, a set of closed-form equations are deduced in this paper, which incorporate the stiffness characteristics of each flexure hinge, together with the other geometric and material properties of the compliant mechanism. Displacement proportion, input stiffness, and output stiffness calculations can simply be performed for any serial compliant mechanism. Corner-filleted and circular flexure hinges that are utilized as connectors in proportion compliant mechanisms in this paper. Two types of flexure-based compliant proportion mechanisms based on the novel analytical model are designed and optimized based on these proposed equations. Finite element analysis results show that these design equations are reliable and easier to be used in the design of such proportion compliant mechanisms. This proposed novel analytical model gives a new viewpoint on the design of flexure-based proportion compliant mechanisms.