COMPLIANT and RIGID MECHANISMS RESEARCH

Hacettepe University

 

 

Mechanisms that gain some or all of their motion through the deflection of flexible members are classified as compliant mechanisms. Compliant mechanisms have been investigated due to their significant advantages such as low cost, reduced number of parts, reduced weight, no need for lubrication, less wear, clearance, and noise. Another advantage of compliant mechanisms is that they store elastic energy as they deform, so there is no need for springs to return mechanism to its original position.

Two very common compliant mechanisms are binder clips and nail clippers. In recent years compliant mechanism became more popular due to significant progress in materials and mathematical modeling technique of compliant mechanisms. In practice, compliant mechanisms are employed instead of their rigid counterparts in many applications. Some of the examples are shown below.

Several applications of compliant mechanisms 

We established a research group and a laboratory for the analysis, design and testing of mechanisms. We generally study on rigid and compliant mechanism design. Nowadays, we specifically focused on constant force grippers. Some of our novel studies are presented here.