Extension of Castigliano’s method for isotropic beams

In the present contribution Castigliano’s theorem is extended to find more accurate results for the deflection curves of beam-type structures. The notion extension in the context of the second Castigliano’s theorem means that all stress components are included for the computation of the complementary strain energy, and not only the dominant axial stress and the shear stress. The derivation shows that the partial derivative of the complementary strain energy with respect to a scalar dummy parameter is equal to the displacement field multiplied by the normalized traction vector caused by the dummy load distribution. Knowing the Airy stress function of an isotropic beam as a function of the bending moment, the normal force, the shear force and the axial and vertical load distributions, higher-order formulae for the deflection curves and the cross section rotation are obtained. The analytical results for statically determinate and indeterminate beams for various load cases are validated by analytical and finite element results. Furthermore, the results of the extended Castigliano theory (ECT) are compared to Bernoulli–Euler and Timoshenko results, which are special cases of ECT, if only the energies caused by the bending moment and the shear force are considered. It is shown that lower-order terms for the vertical deflection exist that yield more accurate results than the Timoshenko theory. Additionally, it is shown that a distributed load is responsible for shrinking or elongation in the axial direction.

Realtime Localization and Estimation of Loads on Aircraft Wings from Depth Images

This paper deals with the development of a realtime structural health monitoring system for airframe structures to localize and estimate the magnitude of the loads causing deflections to the critical components, such as wings. To this end, a framework that is based on artificial neural networks is developed where features that are extracted from a depth camera are utilized. The localization of the load is treated as a multinomial logistic classification problem and the load magnitude estimation as a logistic regression problem. The neural networks trained for classification and regression are preceded with an autoencoder, through which maximum informative data at a much smaller scale are extracted from the depth features. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by an experimental study performed on a composite unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) wing subject to concentrated and distributed loads, and the results obtained by the proposed method are superior when compared with a method based on Castigliano’s theorem.

Passive Regulation of Thermally Induced Axial Force and Displacement in Microbridge Structures

The analytical model of a mechanism for regulating the thermally induced axial force and displacement in a fixed–fixed microbeam is presented in this article. The mechanism which consists of a set of parallel chevron beams replaces one of the fixed ends of the microbeam. The thermomechanical behavior of the system is modeled using Castigliano’s theorem. The effective coefficient of thermal expansion is used in the analytical model. The analytical model takes into account both the axial and bending deformations of the chevron beams. The model provides a closed-form equation to determine the thermally induced axial force and displacement in the microbeam. In addition, the model is used to derive the equations for the sensitivities of the microbeam’s axial force and displacement to the variations of the design parameters involved. Moreover, the model produces the stiffness of the chevron beams. The effect of the stiffness of the chevron beams on the dynamic behavior of the microbeam is discussed. The analytical model is verified by finite element modeling using a commercially available software package. Using the analytical model, two special cases are highlighted: a system with thermally insensitive axial force and a system with thermally insensitive axial displacement. The main application of the model presented in this article is in the design of sensors and resonators that require robustness against changes of temperature in the environment. The analytical model and the sensitivity equations can be easily integrated into optimization algorithms.

Kinetostatics Modeling and Decoupling Analysis of a Crosshair Flexures-Based Nanopositioner

In the present paper, we take the input and output decoupling into account and propose a 2-DOF parallel nanopositioner, which is composed of lever amplification mechanisms, compound parallelogram mechanisms and novel crosshair flexures. In order to demonstrate the decoupling performance improvement of the crosshair flexures, the stiffness model of the crosshair flexures and the kinetostatics model of the nanopositioner are established based on Castigliano’s theorem and the compliance matrix method. Accordingly, the input and output decoupling compliance matrix models are derived to demonstrate the excellent decoupling property of the crosshair flexures based nanopositioner, which is further verified by finite-element analysis and experimental results. The open-loop experiments on the prototype stage demonstrate the maximum stroke of the nanopositioner is up to 65μm and the cross axis coupling errors are less than 1.6%.

The Mechanics of Spiral Springs and Its Application in Timekeeping

Spiral spring is widely used in mechanisms, such as mechanical watch movements and clocks where the spiral spring is used for timekeeping. According to literature, there are only a few studies on spiral springs. In this paper, the mechanics of spiral springs is analyzed in details, and its dynamic performance in mechanical watch movements is further studied to find out its natural frequency, which is the most critical parameter for mechanical watch movements. Based on Castigliano's theorem, the mathematical model of dynamic deformation and natural frequency of the spiral spring under external axial torque is developed, and computer simulation with Matlab® is also conducted. Experimental validations are carried out, which confirm the simulation results. Experiments show that the analytical method in this paper can be used to guide and facilitate the design of spiral spring.

Research and Simulation on Drawing Force of the Tripod Type Universal Coupling

Analyzing the strain expression referring to Castigliano’s Theorem after analysis of the tripod type universal coupling under drawing force comes to the simplified mode of tripod type universal coupling. And with the help of simplified mode, it concludes that the minimum strain occurs when the radius of cross-section of the circlip equals to the depth of groove. After setting material attributes, boundary conditions, contacts of the tripod type universal coupling, and static simulation with the finite element method in SolidWorks, the strain of the universal couplings is carried out. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that when the radius of cross-section of the coupling equals to the depth of groove, the strain is minimum.