Design of variable stiffness fixture for computerized embroidery machine based on shape memory polymer

It is a challenge to handle the metal fixture used for cloth clamping in a computerized embroidery machine because of its fixed stiffness. Herein, a prototype that acts as a fixture to provide variable stiffness property is explored by discussing the potential of a thermal-sensitive epoxy resin-based shape memory polymer (SMP). The general model of fixture design is obtained after analyzing the working condition of the metal fixture. The structure of the SMP fixture is designed by discussing the material properties and working requirements of SMP, and a theoretical model is established to deduce the relationship between thickness and stiffness of the fixture. Six SMP fixtures that memorized clamping and opening state were manufactured with different proportions of raw materials. The results show that the designed fixtures have a lighter weight but higher clamping force than the metal fixture at room temperature (RT). It is the first work that demonstrates the potential of the SMP fixture to replace the metal fixture in the computerized embroidery machine and provides inspiration for product design with variable stiffness characteristic in engineering.

An Improved Structural Analysis Method for Isolator with Quasi-Zero-Stiffness Characteristic

A typical quasi-zero-stiffness (QZS) vibration isolator consisting of a vertical spring and two oblique springs has been widely researched on its static and dynamic characteristics. A general criterion for determining structural parameters of QZS isolator is to achieve low nondimensional stiffness around the equilibrium position. However, lower nondimensional stiffness of linear isolator means lower isolation frequency, which may be invalid on QZS isolator. Because there is an implicit relationship between geometric parameter and stiffness ratio of QZS isolator, this study presents an improved optimization criterion for determining the optimal structural parameters of the typical QZS isolator. The optimization criterion is that the QZS isolator has the maximum displacement range around the equilibrium position without exceeding given natural frequency, rather than given nondimensional stiffness. The results show that isolator with these optimal parameters can achieve lower stiffness around the equilibrium position and better vibration isolation performance. Furthermore, an extended QZS isolator consisting of vertical spring with fixed stiffness and prestressed oblique springs is discussed to further improve stiffness characteristic. Better stiffness performance can be obtained when the prestressed oblique springs have softening stiffness and the exponent of the nonlinear stiffness is 2. Considering the existence of friction in practical application, the influence of friction on both static and dynamic characteristics is investigated. The analysis reveals that friction has little influence on its stiffness characteristic around the static equilibrium position and friction damping produced by friction affects the response amplitude and resonant frequency in dynamics.

Design of 3D printable prosthetic foot to implement nonlinear stiffness behavior of human toe joint based on finite element analysis

Toe joint is known as one of the critical factors in designing a prosthetic foot due to its nonlinear stiffness characteristic. This stiffness characteristic provides a general feeling of springiness in the toe-off and it also affects the ankle kinetics. In this study, the toe part of the prosthetic foot was designed to improve walking performance. The toe joint was implemented as a single part suitable for 3D printing. The various shape factors such as curved shape, bending space, auxetic structure, and bending zone were applied to mimic human foot characteristics. The finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted to simulate terminal stance (from heel-off to toe-off) using the designed prosthetic foot. To find the structure with characteristics similar to the human foot, the optimization was performed based on the toe joint geometries. As a result, the optimized foot showed good agreement with human foot behavior in the toe torque-angle curve. Finally, the simulation conditions were validated by comparing with human walking data and it was confirmed that the designed prosthetic foot structure can implement the human foot function.

Machine Learning based Self-sensing the Stiffness of Shape Memory Coil Actuator

Self-sensing actuation (SSA) assists in sensing the vital property of the shape memory coil which can be used to monitor and control the actuation. The stiffness characteristic of the shape memory coil is sensed during actuation which plays a significant role in development of Intelligent Robotics in defense systems. The electrical property of shape memory coil such as electrical resistance changes due to martensitic phase transformation which is further used to sense the mechanical properties such as strain, stress, temperature, length, and force. Nowadays electrical properties are used to sense the stiffness of the shape memory coil. As of now, there is no well-established analytical model to predict the stiffness of sensing during actuation accurately. Therefore, Machine Learning (ML) based data-driven intelligent model is proposed in this paper for auto-sensing of the stiffness. The experimental facility has been developed for the collection of data with respect to diverse Joule heating currents. To determine the experimental data values of stiffness and electrical resistance of shape memory coil is a cumbersome task. Hence we have proposed an automated method to predict the stiffness of the shape memory coil using ML methods. The Classical Polynomial and Feedforward Neural Network (FFNN) models are developed for analyzing the stiffness of the shape memory coil. It is found that FFNN model outperforms the other ML based model by attaining 95.2650 % accuracy. The FFNN model is also able to explain almost all the predicted stiffness values which are experimentally recorded. The FVU (Fraction Variance Unexplained) statistical parameter explains the prediction of FFNN with the value of 0.0842. The great advantage of the ML model is to replace two sensors (Force and displacement sensors) with one soft sensor (ML model). It will be useful in the controlling robotics and other devices which require high precision in data generated by the sensors.

Моделирование динамического воздействия авиационного двигателя на крыло самолета при отрыве лопатки вентилятора

One of the requirements for a projected aircraft is the ability to continue flying and land in the event of a breakdown of one of the engines. One of the calculated cases of engine breakdown is a fan blade breakaway. This phenomenon causes large vibrations of both the engine itself and the aircraft structure.Design model and method for studying engine vibrations with damage in the form of blade breakaway have been developed; numerical studies of unsteady vibrations of an engine suspended on a pylon have been carried out. Herewith, the following load options are considered: engine operation with fan imbalance before shutdown, which is performed by the pilot; sharp braking and jamming of the fan rotor as a result of breakage of the front elastic support of the rotor, which can occur when the blade breaks off; braking the rotor after turning off the engine.The front bearing of the rotor is ball the bearing installed in elastic elements "squirrel wheel". The ball bearing is modeled as a rigid joint. Outside the elastic element, there are two thin-walled shells, which are intermediate load-bearing elements. With an increase in the imbalance of the fan rotor, the gap in the oil damper closes, the damper housing sits on the shells, switching on their rigidity to work. Thus, the stiffness characteristic of the support is bilinear. The stiffness coefficients of the elastic element "squirrel wheel" and the front support shells are determined by the method of numerical simulation. The fan rotor is modeled as a solid body on bearing supports. The stator of the engine is modeled by a rigid body on an elastic suspension. The pylon and the elastic engine mount elements are modeled by beams of variable cross-section operating simultaneously in tension, torsion and bending.A numerical analysis of the transient vibration processes of the D-436-148FM engine on the pylon of the An-178 airplane is carried out. The most dangerous case of damage as the breakdown of the bearing support after the fan blade breakaway is investigated. The results of the calculations are the graphs of the forces in the bearing arrangements and in the hinges of the engine mounting depended on time.

Design and analysis of a vibration isolation system with cam–roller–spring–rod mechanism

The vibration isolation system using a pair of oblique springs or a spring-rod mechanism as a negative stiffness mechanism exhibits a high-static low-dynamic stiffness characteristic and a nonlinear jump phenomenon when the system damping is light and the excitation amplitude is large. It is possible to remove the jump via adjusting the end trajectories of the above springs or rods. To realize this idea, the article presents a vibration isolation system with a cam–roller–spring–rod mechanism and gives the detailed numerical and experimental studies on the effects of the above mechanism on the vibration isolation performance. The comparative studies demonstrate that the vibration isolation system proposed works well and outperforms some other vibration isolation systems.

Design and experimental validation of a vibration isolator with high-static low-dynamic stiffness and operating point variable property

Vibration isolator with high-static low-dynamic stiffness property has been researched extensively, but the isolator’s stability and performance will be deteriorated with the operation point variation. In this article, a vibration isolator that operation point can be variable was proposed, and it was constructed by combining a coil spring and flexible leaf springs with a negative stiffness magnet spring in parallel. Unlike previous studies, this article focuses on the realization of the high-static low-dynamic stiffness characteristic of the isolator, and the operation point of the vibration isolator can be varied in a certain range. The effects of configuration parameters on the negative stiffness are investigated in detail. Furthermore, the designing procedure to realize the linear negative stiffness with the expected magnitude and range was also developed. A prototype was installed and the vibration transmissibility of the system at different operation points was measured, the experimental results indicated that the isolator can be kept stable in different operation points, and the performance does not deteriorate with the variation of the operation point. The effectiveness of the designing procedure of the realization of linear negative stiffness with the expected magnitude and range and the variable of the operation point of the isolator was validated.