An Approach for the Lightweight Design of a 3-SPR Parallel Mechanism

Abstract

A hierarchical approach for the lightweight design of a 3-SPR parallel mechanism (PM) is presented in this paper. The criterion to match the rigidities of the limb body and those of the joints is proposed; meanwhile, the constraints in terms of technological processes and the dimensional correlations among components and joints, etc., are considered in this approach. Based on these considerations, the design flow is developed by maximizing the lower-order natural frequencies as well as by minimizing the weights of the limbs/subassemblies subject to specified rigidity constraints attributed to them. The proposed approach simultaneously enables the PM to achieve both high static rigidities and high dynamic behaviors.