Theoretical Modeling and Experimental Verification of Elliptical Hyperbolic Hybrid Flexure Hinges

A flexure hinge composed of elliptical and hyperbolic hybrid configurations is developed and analyzed in this paper. The analytical models of compliance, rotation accuracy, and maximum stress of the flexure hinge are established, and the correctness of the models is validated by finite element analy...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yan Wang, Lizhong Zhang, Lixin Meng, Hongjie Lu, Yongheng Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-03-01
Series:Symmetry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/16/3/345
Description
Summary:A flexure hinge composed of elliptical and hyperbolic hybrid configurations is developed and analyzed in this paper. The analytical models of compliance, rotation accuracy, and maximum stress of the flexure hinge are established, and the correctness of the models is validated by finite element analysis and experiments. The influence of structural parameters on compliance and rotation accuracy is discussed. The concept of compliance stress ratio is proposed to assess the deformation capacity of flexure hinges when subjected to the same stress, which provides a basis for quantitatively comparing the comprehensive performance of flexure hinges. The performance of the hybrid flexure hinge is compared with that of elliptical, hyperbolic, and circular flexure hinges by taking the compliance accuracy ratio and the compliance stress ratio as the performance evaluation indexes. The results show that the hybrid flexure hinge combines the advantages of hyperbolic and elliptical hinges and has a balanced performance in compliance, rotation accuracy, and low stress. The designed hybrid flexure hinge is suitable for the support structure of fast steering mirrors, which provides a valuable reference for the engineering optimization design of flexure hinges.
ISSN:2073-8994