Analysis, optimization and synthesis of compliant linkage mechanisms for ultra-precision applications

柔性铰链是超精密柔性连杆机构的材料相干旋转关节。在这种情况下，对精度的要求在纳米或角亚秒的范围内。柔性机构通常是由刚体机构代替而合成的。由于混凝土结构设计对其运动学行为的影响尚未在文献中以所需的分辨率进行研究，因此有必要进行研究。通常使用具有基本切割几何形状的柔性铰链。因此，基于这些柔性铰链的柔性机构显示出有限的运动范围和路径精度。为了克服这些限制，现有的方法都是增加机构运动链中的关节数，而对于整体机构的设计，没有对柔性铰链轮廓的优化进行研究。因此，对运动学特性的不充分了解限制了现代超精密应用的进步，这些应用要求最高的精度和显著增加的运动范围。该项目的目标是开发具有优化柔性铰链的柔性机构的综合基础。作为项目第一阶段的重点，特别是铰链轮廓对机构性能的影响进行了研究，并与刚体相比较。研究表明，在机构中直接优化的多项式柔性铰链具有优势。与传统铰链轮廓相比，多项式柔性铰链允许同时增加运动范围和精度。通过在一个机构中应用不同的柔性铰链以及通过铰链方向和耦合器几何形状的适当设计，可以实现额外的改进。在第一阶段成果的基础上，需要进一步研究宏观尺度的单片微纳定位系统的几何设计。本文的重点是进一步发展一种新的基于每个铰链旋转角度的合成方法，该方法比刚体模型更精确。在考虑空间定位系统尺度影响的前提下，实现了柔性机构的目标化设计。相对于目前的研究现状，特别是以提高柔性机构的精度和行程为目标，这是一种新的研究方法。因此，该项目有助于开发空间柔性连杆机构的多尺度综合方法，该方法考虑了机构的自由度和驱动器与位置系统的集成。结果将在两个不同比例的原型上进行验证。最后，制定了在超精密技术中进一步应用的设计指南。

Flexure hinges are used as material coherent revolute joints in compliant linkage mechanisms for ultra-precision applications. In this case, the requirements for the precision are in the range of nanometers or angular subseconds. Compliant mechanisms are often synthetized by the substitution of rigid-body mechanisms. There is a need for research, because the influence of the concrete constructional design on the kinematic behavior has not been investigated in literature so far with the required resolution. Mostly flexure hinges with basic cut-out geometries are used. Therefore, compliant mechanisms based on these flexure hinges show a limited motion range and path accuracy. To overcome these limitations, in existing approaches the number of joints is increased in the kinematic chain of the mechanism, while there are no studies on the optimization of the flexure hinge contour with respect to the design of monolithic mechanisms. Thus, the inadequate knowledge of the kinematic properties limits advances in modern ultra-precise applications claiming for both highest precision and significantly increased motion ranges.The goal of this project is the development of fundamentals for the synthesis of compliant mechanisms with optimized flexure hinges. As the focal point of the first project phase, specifically the influence of the hinge contour on the mechanism properties has been investigated in comparison to the rigid-body counterpart. The investigations have shown that polynomial flexure hinges, which are directly optimized in the mechanism, are advantageous. Compared to conventional hinge contours polynomial flexure hinges allow a simultaneous increase of the range of motion and the precision. An additional improvement can be achieved by the application of different flexure hinges in one mechanism and by an appropriate design of the hinge orientation and of the coupler geometry as well. Based on the results of the first project phase, additional research is needed regarding the geometric design of monolithic micro and nanopositioning systems with macro dimensions. Here, the focus is on the further development of a novel synthesis method based on the rotation angles of each hinge, which is more precise compared to rigid-body model. It allows the goal-oriented design of the compliant mechanism with consideration of the influence of the scaling of spatial positioning systems.Compared to the current state of research, particularly the aim to increase both, the precision and the stroke of compliant mechanisms is a new approach. Thus, the project contributes to the development of a multi-scale synthesis method for spatial compliant linkage mechanisms, which considers the degree of freedom of the mechanism and the integration of the drive into the position system. The results will be verified at two prototypes with different scaling. Finally, design guidelines for the further use in the ultra-precision technology will be formulated.