The design of a compliant shape-preserving ring

The design of a compliant shape-preserving ring

Schreurs, Koen (TU Delft Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering)

Radaelli, Giuseppe (mentor)
Alijani, Farbod (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

2019-02-22

Compliant shape-preserving mechanisms fullfil a tiny niche within the established research field of compliant mechanisms. To date no report exists on a compliant shape-preserving ring, that is while these mechanisms can give rise to a multitude of practical applications. They can essentially act as novel sealing mechanisms, compliant grippers or find use in medical applications.
This thesis presents three compliant shape-preserving rings that maintain their circular shape up to 99% for their full range-of-motion. The best design can expand in diameter by 45%. A prototype of a compliant shape-preserving ring was constructed from PETG (Polyethylene Terephtalate Glycol-modified) using fused-filament-fabrication. The experimental evaluation of this prototype showed a good agreement with the numerical model describing the design. A novel compliant scissor mechanism was obtained in the design process and this mechanism can prove useful in the design of other compliant shape-preserving mechanisms.

Compliant mechanisms
Dilational mechanisms
Shape-preservation
Flexures
shape optimization

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b0221d1a-c7fd-4e79-9ed5-7e84987098e5

2020-06-01

Student theses

master thesis

© 2019 Koen Schreurs