Fabrication of Compliant Joint Mechanism by Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

In this research, we aim to apply compliant mechanisms to joint motion restriction. It is possible to constrain the joint motion by using the elasticity of the mechanism. Additive Manufacturing (AM) has advantages in fabricating objects to adjust the shape and size. Therefore, in this paper, various types of basic structures, which are simple compliant mechanisms, were fabricated and their restrictions of motion were evaluated. In order to evaluate the influence of the basic structure on the range of motion, bending tests and torsion tests were conducted for each test piece. In addition, in order to investigate combinational use of the basic structures, a bending test and a torsion test were performed by combining two kinds of the basic mechanisms. As a result, it can be said that various patterns of motion range can be designed by combining the basic structures with appropriate shape and dimensions.