Topology Optimization of Compliant Mechanism with Geometrical Advantage

A compliant mechanism is a mechanism that produces its motion by the flexibility of some or all of its members when the input forces are applied. Because of its mobility resulted from flexibility, it is difficult to expect the configuration in prioi. In this work, the design method of a compliant mechanism with the specified geometrical advantage is proposed to control the motion. The multiobjective optimization problem is formulated to minimize the deviation of the specified geometrical advantage and structural compliance of a mechanism and topology optimization is applied to determine the configuration of a mechanism. The results of example problems including a displacement converter design and a gripper design are compared with a multi-criteria model and show that the design of an accurate compliant mechanism with specified geometrical advantage can be obtained.