L. Bruzzone and G. Bozzini (Italy)
Modelling, FEM, flexure joints, microrobotics
Flexure hinges are often used in microrobotics to realize revolute joints completely avoiding stick-slip effects; this allows to fulfil the high positioning accuracy requirements of miniaturized applications. The main hindrance of flexure joints is their elastic return force, that is null only in the undeformed position of the mechanism. The assessment of the elastic return force is necessary in the design phase and can be performed by analytical methods (considering the joint flexibility lumped) or by finite element analysis. The present paper outlines a comparison between these two approaches and suggests some criteria for the definition of the finite element mesh, in order to obtain a good compromise between model complexity and accuracy of the results.
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