Design Optimization of Compliant Mechanisms Consisting of Standardized Elements

Abstract

We developed a design method to configure optimal compliant mechanisms consisting of standardized elements such as semirigid beams, hubs, and joints. In the proposed design approach, mechanism compliance is based upon elastic deformations of joint elements made of short elastic beams. To set up the design problem as an optimization problem, a standard ground beam-based topology optimization method is modified to handle compliant mechanisms comprised of design variable-independent semirigid beams and design variable-dependent elastic joints. In the proposed method, unlike structural stiffness maximization problems, intermediate values should appear to allow elastic deformations in the joints. With our approach, reconfiguration design from one existing compliant mechanism to another can be formulated wherein the number of beam element relocation operations is also minimized. This formulation can be useful in minimizing the time and effort required to convert one mechanism to another.