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ComputerAided_Design_Engineering_amp_Manufactur.pdf

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In this application, the objectives of computational kinematics comprise the following aspects:<br />

• Automatic formulation of the governing kinematic equations<br />

• Solving nonlinear equations for kinematic response<br />

• Analysis of the kinematic characteristics of mechanical systems.<br />

Kinematic modeling of a mechanism involves the definition of the geometry of the bodies that make up<br />

the mechanism, the selection of kinematic constraints that act between pairs of bodies, and the specification<br />

of time-depended drivers to reduce the number of degrees of freedom of the mechanism to zero.<br />

Intuitively, a CAD system appears to be an appropriate tool to model not only static mechanical systems,<br />

but also assemblies that contain moving parts. However, certain requirements must be met by the CAD<br />

system in order to be useful in the process of kinematic modeling and analysis. It is essential that the<br />

constraints on the relative motion of bodies in the mechanism imposed by the physical joints can be<br />

captured in the CAD knowledge base. The formulation of the governing kinematic equations of the<br />

system can then be achieved automatically after the desired input motion is specified. Thus, the user is<br />

freed from the tedious and error-prone process of translating the physical characteristics of a mechanism<br />

into a valid mathematical model. It is important to note that, rather than creating an animation of the<br />

mechanism’s motion on a computer screen after the input of relevant data by the user, this approach is<br />

based on placing the CAD data into the center of the kinematic analysis process. The advantages of this<br />

philosophy derive from the flexibility of utilizing neutral data to perform a variety of tasks without any<br />

redundancy of information stored in a data base.<br />

<strong>Design</strong> with spatial relationships is ideally suited to support computer-aided kinematic modeling and<br />

analysis of mechanisms. By assigning spatial relationships between individual components, the designer<br />

not only defines the relative position of a component in the final assembly, but he also specifies the<br />

degrees of freedom implied by a joint. Since spatial relationships constitute a pair-wise operation under<br />

assumption that both components, initially, are unconstrained free bodies, it is not able to close up an<br />

open-chain assembly where the degrees of freedom of components are retrained. In a four-bar linkage<br />

ex<strong>amp</strong>le, the first three joints can be assembled with spatial relationships in order to assemble the fourth<br />

joint to generate a closed chain. This has to be achieved by an inverse kinematics operation (Prinz, 1994).<br />

The following ex<strong>amp</strong>le illustrates the process of assembling a closed kinematic chain using spatial<br />

relationships. The four-bar mechanism that is to be assembled and its kinematic diagram are shown in<br />

Figure 9.16. The assembly of the open kinematic chain consisting of base a, crank b, coupler c, and<br />

follower d is considered first. Each of the revolute kinematic pairs {a,b}, {b,c}, and {c,d} can be modeled<br />

by using the spatial relationships aligned and against. Then the position of base e is specified by parallel<br />

offset spatial relationships. In order to close the kinematic chain, base e and follower d must be connected<br />

(d)<br />

(e)<br />

FIGURE 9.16 Assembled four-bar mechanism and its kinematic diagram with joint coordinate frames.<br />

© 2001 by CRC Press LLC<br />

(a)<br />

(c)<br />

(b)<br />

y2<br />

y1<br />

z2<br />

z1<br />

x2<br />

x1<br />

y3<br />

z3<br />

y4<br />

z4<br />

x3<br />

x4

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