Bending Elasticity of Circularly Notched Bars as Monolithic Flexure Hinges in Precision Mechanisms

摘要

The elastic properties of a circular notched bar under bending load are treated by the theory of thin plates, by the theory based on the rigorous solution of a hyperbolic notch and by the structural analysis of the finite element method respectively. The experimental results on the bending elastic coefficients verify these theoretical treatments not only in the thickness dependences on the geometrical parameters, but also in the absolute values with a difference of less than 20%. As far as the theoretical treatments are concerned, the geometrical average of the thickness of the notched bar and the radius of the circle are universally found to be the significant parameters in estimating the elastic properties. And also in the numerical analysis procedure, a systematic method to generate the elements in the circular notched bar is proposed, which will be a useful tool in further numerical analysis with the highest precision. (ERA citation 09:003054)