Mechanisms of Machinery

(MEng 3071)

Chapter 1: introduction

By Haile S.

October 2010 E.c

1 By Haile. S 03/28/2021
Machine:

Machine is a device which receives energy and

transforms it into some useful work.

A machine consists of a number of parts or

bodies called mechanism.

In this chapter, we shall study the mechanisms

of the various parts or bodies from which the

machine is assembled.
Structure

It is an assemblage of a number of resistant bodies

(known as members) having no relative motion between

them and meant for carrying loads having straining action.

A railway bridge, a roof truss, machine frames etc., are

the examples of a structure.

What is the difference between a machine and a
structure?
The following differences between a machine and a structure are

important from the subject point of view :

1) The parts of a machine move relative to one another, whereas the

members of a structure do not move relative to one another.

2) A machine transforms the available energy into some useful work,

whereas in a structure no energy is transformed into useful work.

3) The links of a machine may transmit both power and motion, while

the members of a structure transmit forces only.

 Mechanism
 A mechanism is a heart of a machine.
 It is the mechanical portion of the machine that has the
function of transferring motion and forces from a
power source to an output.

 Mechanism is a system of rigid elements (linkages)

arranged and connected to transmit motion in a
predetermined fashion.

 Mechanism consists of linkages and joints.

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 Mechanism (Multibody system):
 A combination of resistant bodies (rigid bodies, or links),

so formed and connected that they may move upon each

other.
 is an assemblage of resistant bodies, connected by
movable joints, with one link fixed and having the purpose
of transforming motion.
 The resistant bodies are connected by movable joints or pairing

elements.
 A mechanism is obtained by fixing one of the links of a kinematic

chain to the ground or frame.

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 Example of Mechanism

Can crusher
Simple press

Rear-window wiper

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 Example of Mechanisms

Moves packages from an assembly

bench to a conveyor

Lift platform
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 Example of Mechanisms

Lift platform

Front loader

Device to close the

top flap of boxes

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 Kinematic Link or Element
A link: is a rigid body having two or more pairing elements by
means of which it may be connected to other bodies for
the purpose of transmitting force or motion.
 A simple link has two pairing elements whereas a
compound link has more than two pairing elements.

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 Kinematic Link or Element
A link, as shown is an (assumed) rigid body which

possesses at least two nodes which are points

for attachment to other links.
 Binary link - one with two nodes.
 Ternary link - one with three nodes.
 Quaternary link - one with four nodes.

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 Kinematic Link or Element
 A link should have the following two characteristics:

1. It should have relative motion, and

2. It must be a resistant body.

 A body is said to be a resistant body if it is capable of

transmitting the required forces with negligible

deformation.

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 Types of Links
 In order to transmit motion, the driver and the

follower may be connected by the following three

types of links :

1) Rigid link. A rigid link is one which does not undergo

any deformation while transmitting motion.
 Strictly speaking, rigid links do not exist. However, as

the deformation of a connecting rod, crank etc. of a

reciprocating steam engine is not appreciable, they
can be considered as rigid links.
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2) Flexible link. A flexible link is one which is partly
deformed in a manner not to affect the transmission of
motion.
For example, belts, ropes, chains and wires are flexible
links and transmit tensile forces only.
3) Fluid link. A fluid link is one which is formed by having
a fluid in a receptacle and the motion is transmitted
through the fluid by pressure or compression only, as in
the case of hydraulic presses, jacks and brakes.
 Kinematic chain:
Kinematic chain the arrangement of links in a chain
fashion which permits relative motion between the
links. Kinematic chains are classified into two:
i) open-loop kinematic chains in which the links are
composed without closed branches, and
ii) closed-loop kinematic chains in which the links form
closed loops.

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 Kinematic chain:
A mechanism is obtained by fixing one of the links of a kinematic

chain to the ground or frame.

For example, in the slider-crank mechanism shown in Fig. below,

link 1 is the ground or frame which is stationary, link 2 is the

crank, link 3 the connecting rod and link 4 the slider. The slider
crank mechanism is commonly used in internal combustion engines.

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 Kinematic Pair:
A kinematic pair is a pair of elements or rigid bodies,
permanently kept in contact, so that there exists a

relative movement between these elements.

 Kinematic pairs are joined by pairing elements which allow

the relative motion.

 In the slider-crank mechanism shown above, links 1 and 2, 2

and 3, 3 and 4, are kinematic pairs joined by pin joints;

links 4 and 1 also form a kinematic pair joined by the sliding

element.
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 Motions
Motion can be thought of as a time series of displacements between successive

positions of a point or a particle. The position of a point is defined as the vector

from the origin of a specified reference coordinate system to the point.

Types of motion
Plane motion: When the motion of a body is confined to one plane only, the motion is
said to be plane motion. Plane motion can be either rectilinear or curvilinear.

When a body moves along a curved path, it is said to have curvilinear motion. Plane

motion can also be translatory, rotary or a combination of both to give general plane

motion.
Rectilinear motion: When a body moves along a straight line· and does not rotate, it is
said to undergo rectilinear motion.

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 Types of Motions
 Helical motion: when a body moves so that each point of the body
has motion of rotation about a fixed axis and at the same time has
translation parallel to the axis, the body is said to undergo helical
motion.
 Spherical motion: When a body moves so that each point on the body
has motion about a fixed' point and remains at a constant distance
from the fixed point, the motion is said to be spherical motion.
 Spatial motion: When the motion of a body is not confined to a plane,
the body is said to have spatial motion. Helical and spherical motion
are special cases of space motion.

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 Transmission of Motion
 Motion is transmitted from one member to another in

three ways:
a) by direct contact between two members;
b) through an intermediate link or a connecting rod;
c) by a flexible connector such as belt or chain.
In the transmission of motion one element of the

mechanism must be a driver and another element

must be a driven element or a follower.

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 Cycle: when parts of a mechanism have passed through all

positions according to prescribed laws and have assumed

their original positions, they are said to have completed a

cycle of motion.

 Period: is the time required to complete a cycle of motion.

 Phase: is the relative instantaneous position of mechanism

at a given instant during a cycle.

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 Degree of Freedom (Mobility)
 Mobility is one of the most fundamental concepts to the study

of kinematics.
 By definition, the mobility of a mechanism is the number of

degrees of freedom it possesses.

 An equivalent definition of mobility is the minimum number of

dependent parameters required to specify the location of

every link within a mechanism.
 The minimum number of coordinates required to fully describe

the configuration of mechanism is called the number of degree

of freedom.
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 Degree of Freedom
The concept of degree of freedom (DOF) is fundamental to analysis of
mechanisms.
Degree of freedom (also called the mobility M) of a system can be

defined as:
the number of inputs which need to be provided in order to create a
predictable output; also:
the number of independent coordinates required to define its position .

To determine the overall DOF of any mechanism, we must account for

the number of links and joints, and for the interactions among them.
The DOF of any assembly of links can be predicted from an

investigation of the Gruebler condition.

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 Degree of Freedom
Any link in a plane has 3 DOF.

Therefore, a system of L unconnected links in the

same plane will have 3L DOF, as shown in Figure

below where the two unconnected links have a total
of six DOF.

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 Degree of Freedom
If the two links are pinned together at a point by means of a revolute

joint, the two-link system will posses only four degrees of freedom.
Combination of two links by a full joint removes two DOF, leaving four

DOF.

Combination of two links by a full joint removes two DOF, leaving four

DOF.
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 Degree of Freedom
The half joint removes only one DOF from the
system (because a half joint has two DOF),
leaving the system of two links connected by a
half joint with a total of five DOF.

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 Degree of Freedom
When any link is grounded or attached to the reference

frame, all three of its DOF will be removed.

Gruebler's equation:

M=3L-2J-3G

where: M = degree of freedom or mobility

L = number of links

J = number of joints

G = number of grounded links

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 Degree of Freedom
 Note that in any real mechanism, even if more than one link of the

kinematic chain is grounded, the net effect will be to create one

larger, higher-order ground link, as there can be only one ground

plane. Thus G is always one, and Gruebler's equation becomes:

M=3(L-1)-2J

 The value of J in the above equations must reflect the value of all

joints in the mechanism. That is, half joints count as ½ because they

remove one DOF. It is less confusing if we use Kutzbach’s

modification of Gruebler’s equation in this form

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 Degree of Freedom

M=3(L-1)-2J1 – J2

where: M = degree of freedom or mobility

L = number of links

Jl = number of 1DOF (full) joints

J2 = number of 2 DOF (half) joints

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 Types of Joints

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 Degree of Freedom

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 Degree of Freedom

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 Degree of Freedom

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 THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

34 By Haile.S 03/28/2021