Abstract
Translational springs are employed to generate desired force-displacement relationships. Conventional translational springs utilize elastic deformations of coiled spring strips to fulfill their functions. The one-dimensional motion of a conventional translational spring is produced by the three-dimensional deformation of its coiled spring strip, which is bending plus twisting of the coiled spring strip. Different from conventional translational springs, flexure based translational springs usually have simple planar monolithic structures, and are convenient to manufacture and maintain. The translation of a flexure based translational spring is from the two-dimensional elastic or recoverable deformations of its planar flexible members. The flexure based translational springs synthesized in this research are required to endure large input translations. Because of large deformation and geometric nonlinearity, flexure based translational springs face difficulties that include parasitic drift, spring stiffness deviation, and high stress in the deformed springs. The research of this paper is motivated by surmounting these difficulties. Flexure based translational springs with different arrangements are synthesized to eliminate parasitic drifts and have desired spring rates and reasonable maximum stress.
A Study on the Mechanical Properties and Bending Formability Evaluation of the Spring Strip Materials