Design of a 3-DOF Compliant Parallel Mechanism for Displacement Amplification
Prevalent general design methods and applications of compliant displacement amplifiers are focused on 1-DOF units composed into serial structures, which are limited by their output motions, stiffness, heat balance, repeatability and resonant frequencies. To improve the output properties of compliant displacement amplifiers, a monolithic structure is presented in the form of a compliant parallel mechanism. In the proposed moving structure, the compliant mechanism of the displacement amplifier is designed with 3-DOF to generate uniformly magnified output properties in all directions. High first resonant frequencies and amplification ratios are achieved in a compact size compared to existing compliant displacement amplifiers. The related kinematics, amplification ratios and resonant frequencies of the amplifier are analytically modeled, and the results are simulated by finite-element analysis. The proposed design is employable for micro/nano positioning stages operating within a prismatic output workspace.