Modeling of Flexible-Link Manipulators Under Uncertain Parameters Based on Stochastic Finite Element Method

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach to obtain the dynamic model of flexible-link manipulators based on the stochastic finite element method. The links and elements of flexible manipulators are affected by uncertainties. The main sources of uncertainties include the variation of mechanical properties. The present research study conveys the following contributions: (i) modeling the uncertain parameters such as the stiffness of the links as an extension of the finite element method based on stochastic fields and the stochastic finite element method, (ii) numerical method to simulate the dynamic response of flexible manipulation with uncertain parameters in the links based on the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), and (iii) numerical application of the proposed method to the one-link flexible manipulator and two-link flexible manipulator. Numerical simulations illustrate the proposed approach in terms of joint responses and frequency response functions subject to uncertain parameters.