Design and analysis of the power-trigonometric function-shaped flexure hinges.

ABSTRACT

In this paper, a generalized flexure hinge model, that is, power-trigonometric function-shaped flexure hinges (PTFHs), is proposed. The power function and trigonometric function in the curve function are changed, which obtains different notch types of flexure hinges to meet the needs of flexure hinges in different scenarios. For the flexure hinge model, the notch curve equation of the hinge is presented first, and the influence of the degree of power function, degree of trigonometric function, and other parameters on the structure of the curve is analyzed. Then, the compliance and rotation precision equations of the flexure hinge are derived based on Castigliano's second theorem. Both equations are verified using the finite element method and achieve errors of less than 8.5%. Then, based on the flexure hinge equation, the influence of the size parameters on the compliance and rotation precision of the hinge is analyzed, and a new comparison method is proposed. Parameter ß is defined to analyze the influence of five parameters on ß. Through the comparison of PTFHs and three commonly used flexure hinges, the results prove that the proposed PTFHs have better comprehensive performance. Then, the flexure hinge is statically analyzed. Finally, a test system for flexure hinges is established to verify the performance of the model.