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Machines
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Dynamics and Optimization of Compliant and Flexible Mechanisms
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Dynamics and Optimization of Compliant and Flexible Mechanisms

A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Machine Design and Theory".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2024) | Viewed by 6288

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Alessandro Cammarata

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95123 Catania, Italy
Interests: parallel robots; flexible multibody; compliant mechanisms; reduced order models
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mechanism design must adapt to the ever-increasing demand for performance in terms of speed of execution, precision, increased efficiency, and adaptability to different working conditions. The use of increasingly lighter and more resistant innovative materials is an obligatory solution which, however, is not enough without an adequate optimization that concerns many often-conflicting aspects, such as the reduction in moving masses/inertias, the increase in stiffness, the reduction of manufacturing times, or the reduction in power consumption. Therefore, classical rigid body mechanisms evolve toward flexible mechanisms with lumped or distributed compliance. Even topology, that is, how links and joints are distributed, is no longer constant but can change, giving rise to reconfigurable mechanisms that adapt to the needs of a flexible industry. Design is increasingly accompanied by simulation and virtual prototyping. This allows for intervention on any design errors from the beginning and eventually reduces costs. Multibody simulation becomes more and more complex trying to capture realism in real-time applications. Aspects such as elasticity of components, collisions, friction, interactions with fluid fields, couplings with electrical/electronic systems, and couplings with other physical or virtual subsets become essential. What emerges is a complex system capable of providing answers close to true systems.

The Special issue fits the scope of Machines, covering:

  • Applications of automation
  • Systems and control engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Computer engineering
  • Mechatronics
  • Robotics
  • Industrial design
  • Mechanical systems, machines, and related components
  • Machine design

Dr. Alessandro Cammarata
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 5291 KiB  
Article
Redesign of a Balance Rehabilitation Device Based on a Parallel Continuum Mechanism
by Francisco J. Campa and Daniel Díaz-Caneja
Machines 2024, 12(10), 735; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12100735 - 18 Oct 2024
Viewed by 532
Abstract
In the present work, a parallel continuum manipulator for trunk rehabilitation tasks for patients who have suffered a stroke was analyzed and redesigned. The manipulator had to perform active assistance exercises for the motor recovery of the patient. Based on this background, a [...] Read more.
In the present work, a parallel continuum manipulator for trunk rehabilitation tasks for patients who have suffered a stroke was analyzed and redesigned. The manipulator had to perform active assistance exercises for the motor recovery of the patient. Based on this background, a series of requirements were defined, which determined the design framework during the modeling of the manipulator. Finally, an improved prototype was built and tested to verify that the model can properly characterize the behavior of the manipulator. Such tests were carried out using a self-made dummy that replicates the simplifying hypotheses and conditions assumed in the mathematical model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Optimization of Compliant and Flexible Mechanisms)
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21 pages, 14691 KiB  
Article
Design of a Flexure-Based Flywheel for the Storage of Angular Momentum and Kinetic Energy
by Patrick Flückiger, Florent Cosandier, Hubert Schneegans and Simon Henein
Machines 2024, 12(4), 232; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12040232 - 30 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1122
Abstract
The flywheel is a widespread mechanical component used for the storage of kinetic energy and angular momentum. It typically consists of cylindrical inertia rotating about its axis on rolling bearings, which involves undesired friction, lubrication, and wear. This paper presents an alternative mechanism [...] Read more.
The flywheel is a widespread mechanical component used for the storage of kinetic energy and angular momentum. It typically consists of cylindrical inertia rotating about its axis on rolling bearings, which involves undesired friction, lubrication, and wear. This paper presents an alternative mechanism that is functionally equivalent to a classical flywheel while relying exclusively on limited-stroke flexure joints. This novel one-degree-of-freedom zero-force mechanism has no wear and requires no lubrication: it is thus compatible with extreme environments, such as vacuum, cryogenics, or ionizing radiation. The mechanism is composed of two coupled pivoting rigid bodies whose individual angular momenta vary during motion but whose sum is constant at all times when the pivoting rate is constant. The quantitative comparison of the flexure-based flywheel to classical ones based on a hollow cylinder as inertia shows that the former typically stores 6 times less angular momentum and kinetic energy for the same mass while typically occupying 10 times more volume. The freedom of design of the shape of the rigid bodies offers the possibility of modifying the ratio of the stored kinetic energy versus angular momentum, which is not possible with classical flywheels. For example, a flexure-based flywheel with rigid pivoting bodies in the shape of thin discs stores 100 times more kinetic energy than a classical flywheel with the same angular momentum. A proof-of-concept prototype was successfully built and characterized in terms of reaction moment generation, which validates the presented analytical model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Optimization of Compliant and Flexible Mechanisms)
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20 pages, 7541 KiB  
Article
Modeling and Optimization of the Blade Structural Parameters for a Turbomolecular Pump
by Zhi Chen, Wenlong Wang, Zhizuo Li and Hongzhi Yan
Machines 2023, 11(5), 517; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines11050517 - 1 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3765
Abstract
The development of high-performance mass spectrometer and vacuum coating technology has placed higher demand on the vacuum level of turbomolecular pumps (TMPs), which are required to possess a greater compression ratio and faster pumping speed. There exists a relation of “as one falls, [...] Read more.
The development of high-performance mass spectrometer and vacuum coating technology has placed higher demand on the vacuum level of turbomolecular pumps (TMPs), which are required to possess a greater compression ratio and faster pumping speed. There exists a relation of “as one falls, another rises” between the compression ratio and the pumping speed when traditional improvement methods are used. How to simultaneously increase the compression ratio and pumping speed is a very important question for the high-end turbomolecular pumps. In this study, on the basis of a parallel blade and thin gas aerodynamic model, several types of curved blade are presented to improve the pumping performance of TMPs. The comparison results show that the positive quadratic surface exhibited a better pumping performance than the other curved blades. After that, a hybrid optimization method based on a support vector machine (SVR) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are proposed to obtain the structural parameters of the rotor blade for the highest pumping speed and maximum compression ratio. The optimization results show that, compared with the parallel blades, the compression single-stage blade row with quadratic surface structure was able to increase the maximum compression ratio by 10.35% and the maximum pumping speed factor by 4.61%. In addition, the intermediate single-stage blade row with quadratic surface structure increased the maximum compression ratio by 9.15% and the maximum pumping speed factor by 2.53%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dynamics and Optimization of Compliant and Flexible Mechanisms)
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