Compliant Mechanisms

<p>With a rigorous and comprehensive coverage the second edition of <i>Compliant Mechanisms: Design of Flexure Hinges</i> provides practical answers to the design and analysis of devices that incorporate flexible hinges. Complex-shaped flexible-hinge mechanisms are generated from basic elastic segments by means of a bottom-up compliance (flexibility) approach. The same compliance method and the classical finite element analysis are utilized to study the quasi-static and dynamic performances of these compliant mechanisms. This book offers easy-to-use mathematical tools to investigate a wealth of flexible-hinge configurations and two- or three-dimensional compliant mechanism applications.</p><p>FEATURES</p><ul> <p> </p> <li>Introduces a bottom-up compliance-based approach to characterize the flexibility of new and existing flexible hinges of straight- and curvilinear-axis configurations</li> <p> </p> <li>Develops a consistent linear lumped-parameter compliance model to thoroughly describe the quasi-static and dynamic behavior of planar/spatial serial/parallel flexible-hinge mechanisms</li> <p> </p> <li>Utilizes the finite element method to analyze the quasi-statics and dynamics of compliant mechanisms by means of straight- and curvilinear-axis flexible-hinge elements</li> <p> </p> <li>Covers miscellaneous topics such as stress concentration yielding and related maximum load precision of rotation of straight- and circular-axis flexible hinges temperature effects on compliances layered flexible hinges and piezoelectric actuation/sensing</li> <p> </p> <li>Offers multiple solved examples of flexible hinges and flexible-hinge mechanisms.</li> </ul><p>This book should serve as a reference to students researchers academics and anyone interested to investigate precision flexible-hinge mechanisms by linear model-based methods in various areas of mechanical aerospace or biomedical engineering as well as in robotics and micro-/nanosystems.</p>