Flexures - METU | Department of Mechanical Engineering
Transcription
Flexures - METU | Department of Mechanical Engineering
Outline – Flexures • Definition of Flexures – Monolithic Designs – Clamped Designs • Four-bar Link Flexure – – – – • • • • • Motion Errors Two-stage Differential Multi-blade Flexures for Angular Motion L ki Fl Locking Flexures Transmission Systems Application Examples Rolamite Chapter 8 ME 551 2 Flexures • A flexure is a bearing system that allows ll motion ti th through h bending b di off its hinge elements. – Also called flexural hinges and elastic / compliant mechanisms • Flexures do have a large g number of useful features for precision engineering: – – – – – Chapter 8 Light weight Low cost Very low friction (w/o lubrication) Maintenance free operation Yield high g repeatable p motion ME 551 3 Flexures (Cont’d) ( ) • Some of their disadvantages g are – Limited travel span if compared to the overall size of the mechanism – Very V llow d damping i – Poor load capacity – Might be difficult to manufacture – Susceptable to fatigue failure • Their applications pp range g from – Flip-top containers – Piezo-beams on a scan tunneling microscope (STM) • Due to bending stresses created in flexures, great care needs to be exercised when designing such bearings. Chapter 8 ME 551 4 Monolithic Design g 1 • • • They are very accurate. Mechanism’s size is about 20 times the range of motion. Abrasive water-jet water jet machining is an economical way to cut nonnon critical areas (links) whereas wire EDM can be used for precision cuts in critical hinge areas. – May require localized heat treatment of the material in the flexure. • Applications include flexural couplings, mirror/lens mounts, STM's, and more. Chapter 8 ME 551 5 Clamped p Designs g 1 • Elastic members are clamped to the stationaryy and moving g elements via bolts. – Applications include wafer steppers, mirror mounts, and more. – Mechanism’s size is about 10 times the range of motion. • • Make sure that residual stresses don't create asymmetries leading to • parasitic motions. – Cut spring metal with EDM or water jet. – Use dual lubricated washers under bolt heads and guides for clamp plates. Chapter 8 Nanometer accuracyy can be obtained if bolted joint is designed properly: – Rounded edges – Each bolt bolt’ss cone of action should overlap. overlap Easy to assemble from annealed parts and hardened spring steel. – B Bolts lt mustt b be titightened ht d carefully f ll as as the th torque can twist the flexure. ME 551 6 Features of Clamped p Designs g • Speed and acceleration limits: – Limited only by yield strength and design. • Range of motion: – T Typically i ll used d ffor motions ti lless th than a ffew mms. – Monolithic designs: flexure length/motion ≥ 20 – Clamped designs: flexure length/motion = 5 ... 10 • Applied loads: – Design g g goal is to obtain load capacity p y with minimum spring p g constant. • Repeatability: – Axial: limited only by the drive system – Lateral: < 1 nm for monolithic designs. Chapter 8 ME 551 7 Features (Cont’d) ( ) • Axial Resolution: – Limited only by the drive system system. • Inherently preloaded. • Stiffness: – The greater the motion and the lower the spring rate, the less the stiffness. – Theory of elasticity or FEA yields very accurate predictions of performance. performance – Flexures often have low transverse stiffness so they are more susceptible to parasitic forces. • Good vibration and shock resistance. • Damping capability: – M Material t i ld damping i only l (2 (2-5%). 5%) – Damping mechanisms (constrained layer dampers) can be used to obtain high damping. Chapter 8 ME 551 8 Features - Accuracy y • • • • Axial: limited only by the drive system. L t l can be Lateral: b lless th than nanometers t ffor monolithic lithi d designs. i Depends on how well the bearing was assembled or machined. Even if there is a small off off-axis axis error motion associated with the primary motion: – The error motion is usually very predictable and highly repeatable. • Fl Flexural l bearings b i cannott attain tt i perfect f t motion ti due d tto – Variation in spring strength • – – – – – Chapter 8 Elastic modulus varies with rolling direction in steels (anisotropy). Variation in spring geometry geometry. Overall inaccuracies of manufacture. Bending of the bearing in an unintended manner. B di off structure. Bending t t External applied loads (e.g., gravity and the manner in which the actuation force is applied) ME 551 9 Four-bar Linkage g Flexure1 • Leaf springs are clamped to the platforms to create a four-bar linkage system. system – Parasitic motions are present in the bearing system. • • • X direction stiffness is equal to two fixed-fixed beams acting together in a side-by-side mode. Y direction (vertical) stiffness is equal to that of two columns. Buckling effect is negligible for small motions motions. Chapter 8 ME 551 10 Motion Errors • The most common errors in four-bar linkage flexures are the pitch angle and vertical motion. motion – They accompany linear motion in a four-bar linkage flexure. flexure Chapter 8 ME 551 11 Motion Errors (Cont’d) ( ) The pitch angle (θ) and vertical motion error (δ) of the mechanism can be simply expressed as ⎡ 6(l − 2a )t 2 ⎤ x ⋅ θ =⎢ 2 2 2⎥ 3 b l − 2 t l + 6 at ⎣ ⎦ l x2 δ≈ 2l where x is the travel distance; t is the thickness of the spring plates; b is the length of the platform. Notice that there is no pitch error when a = l / 2. If the force is applied at a point other than halfway between the platforms, a bending moment is generated which causes a pitch error to occur. Chapter 8 ME 551 12 Motion Errors (Cont’d) ( ) The pitch errors are also caused by the difference in spring length and difference in platform length respectively. respectively That is θs = θp = δ s x2 2l 2b δpx bl where subscripts s and p refer to the quantites associated with the spring i and d platform l tf respectively. ti l Typical tolerances on the springspring and platform length are 25 μm and 1...3 μm respectively. Chapter 8 ME 551 13 Motion Errors (Cont’d) ( ) • To minimize parasitic motions, – Symmetrical S i ld duall ffour b bar lilinkage k eliminates li i δY error. • Strains along flexure's length resisted by the frame. • Stiffness is increased: – Range of motion is decreased as δ = FL3/(192EI) – Use a two-stage (stacked) four-bar linkage. Chapter 8 ME 551 14 Two-Stage g Linkage g 1 • The parasitic motions of one 4-bar cancel the parasitic motions of the second 4-bar. • Lateral and yaw stiffness will not be high due to buckling effect. • Overcome by use of monolithic hourglass hourglass-type type members. members Chapter 8 ME 551 15 Cascaded Linkage g 2 • • In this design, any change in height of platform A relative to its support B will be compensated by an equal and opposite change in height of B relative to the base. In theory this should result in a perfect rectilinear motion of A relative to the base. Chapter 8 ME 551 16 Differential Design g 2 Chapter 8 ME 551 17 Multi-blade Flexures1 Many thin blades can be used to increase lateral stiffness and load capacity while keeping axial stiffness and stress low: Fvertical ∝ ntw K vertical ∝ ntwE L L3 Ent 3 w L3 K axial (monolithic) ∝ E (nt )3 w K axial (multiblade l ibl d ) ∝ • • • Beware of alignment and slip problems between the blades. Care must be exercised when tightening bolts as the torque can twist the flexure! Rubber placed between the blades can increase damping. Chapter 8 ME 551 18 Flexures for Angular g Motion1 • • – If the top beam were 2 mm thick and the bottom one were 1 mm thick, the transmission ratio would be (2/1)3 = 8. 2 Deformed upper beam Chapter 8 L ma in L/ =2 FL = 2E I 3 F = Device is developed by Polaroid Corp to adjust pitch Corp. pitch- and yaw angles of a lens. Mechanical advantage is provided b the by th screws that th t push h up on the th upper beam using the lower beam as a base. • FL3 3EI Another interesting feature is that the slope at the root of the main beam causes an Abbe error canceling the beam’s displacement at its free end as δmain i = δ - α⋅Lmain i = 0 ME 551 19 Cross-strip p Flexure1 • Cross-strip flexure allows angular rotation about an axis. Chapter 8 ME 551 20 Angle g Hinges g 2 Chapter 8 ME 551 21 Locking g Flexures1 • Flexures can be used as one-shot hinges g to g guide components into alignment and then lock them into place. • X direction stiffness of the clamping system is equal to: – The sum of the X direction stiffness of the anvil and locking member due to the preload effect. effect Chapter 8 ME 551 22 Locking g Flexures ((Cont’d)) • Small taper keeps component preloaded in both the X and Y directions. • To minimize distortion caused by bending, pass through g the support pp line of force must p ledge. • A lens could be kinematically held by two anvils and a single locking member. • The geometry is tolerant of manufacturing errors. Chapter 8 ME 551 23 Locking g Flexures ((Cont’d)) • For precise X position location, utilize a grooved structure. t t • Numerous permutations are possible. Chapter 8 ME 551 24 1 Transmission Systems y Chapter 8 ME 551 25 Transmission Systems y (Cont’d) ( ) • A bowed flexure can be used as a high reduction transmission. A downward motion δ causes a lateral motion Δ ≈ 4δlh / lw. • It is possible to chain together a series of these bowed flexures at right angles to each other. • This can yield a very high transmission ratio ratio. For instance, instance if lh = 2 mm and lw = 20 mm, the transmission ratio becomes 5. • In series, the ratios become 25, 125, 625... for 2, 3, 4... units respectively. Chapter 8 ME 551 26 Application – CMM Probe Touch-trigger probe (TTP) designed/built by METU-SPARC group employs a diaphragm spring to support the stylus shaft. shaft Chapter 8 ME 551 27 Application pp – Diaphragm p g Flexure3 • Diaphragm flexures are utilized to guide out-of-plane out of plane motion of a high-end high end microscope. • Axial motion range is 140 μm. μm • Maximum lateral parasitic motion over the full range is about 2 μm. μm Chapter 8 ME 551 28 Rolamite • Rolamite (a major twist in flexural bearings) is a technology for very low friction bearings: – Developed p byy Donald F. Wilkes of S Sandia National Lab in 1960s. – Uses a tensioned metal band and counter rotating rollers within an enclosure. enclosure – Resulting linear bearing loses very little energy to friction. • Effective friction coefficient is as low as 0.0005 (an order of magnitude better than ball bearings at the time) • Main commercial application is the airbag deployment in passenger cars. Chapter 8 ME 551 29 References 1 A 1. A. H. H Slocum, Slocum Precision Machine Design, Design SME Press, Press 1992. • A. H. Slocum, ME 2.075 Course Notes, MIT, 2001. 2. S. T. Smith & D. G. Chetwynd, Foundations of Ultra g Vol 2, Taylor y & Francis, Precision Mechanism Design, 2005. Chapter 8 ME 551 30