This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project is to develop a new flexure system design methodology inspired by elastic averaging, which is seen in nature. Flexures are jointless elastic structures that derive motion from material compliance, which results in high precision, design simplicity, and lower costs. The traditional design methodology for the synthesis and optimization of flexure systems is based on Exact Constraint principles, which unnecessarily restrict the solution space by not recognizing the unique advantages of distributed compliance. This research will create a mathematical and scientific foundation for Elastic Averaging, a paradigm inspired by nature?s effective use of distributed compliance in enabling highly over-constrained structures that are inherently robust and high-performing despite local defects. The research deliverables include: 1) Characterization of constraint behavior in flexures by modeling structural non-linearities; 2) Quantification of key performance attributes such as mobility, error motions, stiffness variation, and manufacturing sensitivity; 3) A synthesis procedure for generating constraint maps in response to a flexure system design specification; and 4) A closed-form analytical framework that allows the prediction of performance and design tradeoffs in flexure systems, thus enabling optimization and sensitivity studies.
If successful, the proposed flexure mechanism design methodology will pave the path for significant design innovations in several applications including multi-axis nanopositioning systems used in precision metrology, enhanced-dexterity minimally invasive surgical tools, and compliant seals for improving turbomachinery efficiency. The design methodology resulting from this research will be disseminated by means of a new professional tutorial for engineers and researchers, and an online reference atlas of flexure systems. This proposal also includes plans for undergraduate and graduate curriculum development at the University of Michigan.
