PRESENTATION on ELASTIC HINGES AND COUPLING

SUBMITTED TO: DR. JAYANT JAIN

PRESENTED BY: AJAY VIKRAM 2012AMD3063

HISTORY
Steel is a favorite for hinges of all types. It is relatively cheap, strong, and durable. Its evolution from outcast to ordinary, however, is anything but common. Early civilizations initially eschewed iron, the basic component of steel, since it requires extremely high temperatures (2800 F) to melt in its pure form. Brass is typically used inside, for cabinet hinges and interior door hinges, though it could also be used for a front door hinge. Brass hinges are generally thicker than steel hinges, will wear better and look more polished as well.

INTRODUCTION
Nature makes much use of elastic hinges: skin, muscle, cartilage all allow large, recoverable deflections.Man, too, designs with flexure and torsion hinges: devices which connect or transmit load between components while allowing limited relative movement between them by deflecting elastically . Which materials make good hinges?

DESIGN REQUIREMENT
Function Elastic hinge

Constraint
Objective

No failure,meaning <f thoughout the hinge

Maximum elastic flecture

Free variable

Choice of material

TRANSLATION
Consider the hinge for the lid of a box. The box, lid and hinge are to be moulded in one operation .The hinge is a thin ligament of material which flexes elastically as the box is closed, as in the figure, but it carries no significant axial loads. Then the best material is the one which (for given ligament dimensions) bends to the smallest radius without yielding or failing. When a ligament of thickness t is bent elastically to a radius R, the surface strain is

TRANSLATION
and, since the hinge is elastic, the maximum stress is

Fig. 1 Elastic or 'flexure' hinges. The ligaments must bend repeatedly without failing.

MATARIAL INDICES
This must not exceed the yield or failure strength f . Thus the radius of ligament can be bent without damage is

The best material is the one that can be bent to the smallest radius, that is, the one with the greatest value of the index

Materials for elastic hinges. Elastomers are best, but may not be rigid enough to meet other design needs. Then polymers such as nylon, PTFE and PE are better. Spring steel is less good, but much stronger.

SELECTION
The criteria both involve ratios f and E; we need Chart1. Candidates are identified by using the guide line of slope 1; a line is shown at the position M = y/E = 3 *10e-2 . The best choices for the hinge are all polymeric materials.

The shortlist includes polyethylenes , polypropylene, nylon and, best of all, elastomers, though these may be too flexible for the body of the box itself. Cheap products with this sort of elastic hinge are generally moulded from polyethylene, polypropylene or nylon. Spring steel and other metallic spring materials (like phosphor bronze) are possibilities . table gives further material.

Material polyethylene polypropylene nylon PTFE

M(*10e-3) 32 30 30 35

Comments Widely used for cheap hinged bottle caps ,etc Stiffer than polyethylene ;easily molded Stiffer than polyethylene :easily molded Very durable; more expensive than PE,PP ,etc.

elastomers
High strength copper alloy

100-1000
4

Outstanding but low modulus

M less than polymer ; use when high tensile stiffness is required

Spring steel

Same like high strength copper alloy

POSTSCRIPT
Polymers give more design-freedom than metals. The elastic hinge is one example of this, reducing the box, hinge and lid (three components plus the fasteners needed to join them) to a single box hinge-lid, moulded in one operation.

Another is the elastomeric coupling - a flexible universal joint, allowing an exceptionally high angular, parallel and axial flexibility with good shock absorption characteristics.

REFERENCES
material selection in mechanical design MICHAEL F. ASHBY www.google.com www.wikipedia.com

THANK YOU