ME 431

KINEMATIC
SYNTHESIS
Eres Söylemez
Room C205
eres@met.edu.tr
Brief Description :
Introduction to synthesis, graphical and
analytical methods in dimensional
synthesis. Two, three and four positions of a
plane. Correlation of crank angles.
Classical Transmission angle problem.
Optimization for the transmission angle.
Current topics in mechanisms.
o Course Objectives :
o The objective of the course is, on one
hand, to provide sufficient theoretical
background to understand
contemporary mechanism design
techniques and , on the other hand, to
develop skills for applying these
theories in practice for the senior
mechanical engineering students. The
lectures are supplemented by practical
mechanism design problems.
Course Content :
1. Introduction.
2. Two positions of a moving plane.
3. Two positions of a plane relative to
another moving plane.
4. Design for dead centers.
5. Analytical synthesis for function
generation.
6. Three positions of a moving plane.
7. Four positions of a moving plane
8. Robert-Chebishev Theorem.
9. Cam Design.
References :
There is no textbook in this course. However the following books are
excellent references on kinematic synthesis:

1."Mechanism Design - Analysis and Synthesis" By A.Erdman, G.Sandor,

Prentice Hall
2. "Kinematic Synthesis" By R. Beyer (English Translation) McGraw-Hill

3. "Mekanizmaların Konstrüksiyonu" By Lichtenheldt (Turkish Translation by

Fuat Pasin), ITÜ

4."Kinematic Synthesis of Linkages" By. Hartenberg and Denavit, McGraw Hill

5."Kinematic Analysis and Synthesis of Mechanisms" By Mallik, Ghosh,

Dittrich, CRC Press.

6."Applied Kinematics" By K. Hain (English Translation) McGraw-Hill

7. "Geometric Design of Linkages ", J.M. McCarthy, G.S. Soh, Springer.

8. "Kinematics and Linkages Design" By A. Hall, Balt Publishers

9."Mechanism Design ", K. Russell, Q.Shen, R.S.Sodhi,; CRC Press
10."The Achievement Habit ", B. Roth, Harper Collins
Tool:
In the old days we used
pencil, ruler, triangle,
protractor,etc. to solve the
synthesis problems. Today
we use COMPUTER. We
shall use SolidWorks® for
graphical solutions. For
analytical solutions Excel®,
MathCad® and Matlab®
can be used. I will mainly
use Excel since it is the
cheapest of the three.
 MECHANISMS
Mechanism Topology Mechanism Analysis Mechanism Synthesis

• Definitions •Kinematic Analysis •Position Synthesis

• Link •Motion Analysis •Function Synthesis
• Kinematic Pair •Velocity Analysis •Path Generation
• Kinematic Chain •Acceleration •Design for Dead
• DOF of space Analysis centers
• Dof of a •Dynamic Analysis
mechanism •Static Force
• Enumeration Analysis
•Dynamic Force
analysis
•Dynamic Motion
Analysis
Mechanism Topology
 Position Synthesis

Function Synthesis Path Generation