44th series Student Project Programme (SPP): 2020-21

EVALUATION OF STUDENT PROJECTS

Developing Mechanism for Linear
Movement using Flexures
44S_BE_1566
Name of the Students : 1. Mr. Saish Mandrekar
2. Mr. Adarsh Naik
3. Ms. Vishal Jalaneela
4. Ms. Romit Bicholkar

Project guide : Prof. M. Sadiq A. Pachapuri

Department : Mechanical

Name of the College : KLE Dr. M. S. Sheshgiri College of Engineering and Technology, Belagavi
 Introduction

 Flexure bearings are metal disks with spiral-like slots that enable them to flex in axial
direction while exhibiting a much higher radial stiffness.
 They can be used to support shafts that perform a pure linear motion and are
commonly used in free-piston Stirling machines in combination with linear motors.
 In these applications, their primary advantage is almost frictionless operation without
requiring lubrication. They can be used in combination with clearance seals; they are
inexpensive and can be easily manufactured by a dye in a punch press.
 The concept of a flexure bearing or flexure spring was first introduced and patented by
A. Wolf et al. in 1938. They used these bearings, mounted in a vibration detector, to
capture the Earth’s vibrations.
 Objectives

 Development of various shapes of flexural bearing and optimizing the material.

 Make it light weight and accurate, without failing by fatigue and vibrating away from
resonance.
 To develop a linear motor and control algorithm for precise control of motion.
 To provide frictionless and non-wearing support for the reciprocating components.
 Methodology

 Solving different parameters of a spiral flexure bearing design and analyse their
influence in terms of fatigue when applied to a flexure bearing. The parameter study
considers the variation of geometric parameters at the beginning of the spiral.
- Thickness of the disk,
- Number of arms,
- Turn angle,
- Diameter of the starting and ending holes, and
- Slot width that determines the arm width,
- Fixed active outer and inner diameter OD and ID,
- Fixed stroke,
- Fixed radius.
 Implementation

 Design of spiral flexure.

 Analysis of spiral flexure in ansys workbench.

 Design of outer body with linear motor.

 Results

 It is observed that the diameter, the thickness and the geometry are significant
parameters.
 In flexure bearings, as the diameter, spiral angle and the starting radius increase, axial
and radial stiffness decrease.
 As the thickness increases the axial and the radial stiffness increase.
 From geometric point of view, radial stiffness should be high and stress and axial
stiffness should be low to achieve the optimum value of geometric parameters of the
flexure bearing.
 The effects of arm angle, clamp angle and arm width are negligible on design
parameters. From the theoretical analysis of spiral and linear flexure bearings.
 Frictionless movement of the shaft is obtained.
 Applications, Advantages, Disadvantages in the project

• Applications
 1. Air pump piston movement,
 2. Window opening and closing,
 3. Solar panel movement,
 4. Hospital bed.
• Advantages
 Lightweight and accurate, without failing by fatigue and vibrating away from
resonance.
• Disadvantages
Range of motion is limited,
Very limited for bearings that support high loads.
 Potential for Future Work / Scope of Commercialization

 Flexure bearings have the advantage over most other bearings that they are simple
and inexpensive.
 It is a metal disk with spiral slots that enable them to flex only in the axial direction
while exhibiting a much higher radial stiffness.
 It allows motion by bending itself when loaded.
 Photograph or Short Video of project if any

Design 1 Design 2

Outer diameter: 40mm Outer diameter: 40mm

Inner diameter : 5mm Inner diameter : 5mm
Thickness : 0.3mm Thickness : 0.6mm
 Conclusion

 The natural frequency of the bearing decreases with the turn angle and number of
arms of the spiral.
 The stiffness ratio is a useful design criterion to evaluate the performances of flexure
bearings; it decreases with the turn angle and the number of arms. This ratio can be
improved by increasing the arm width and reducing the thickness of the bearing
 The stresses of the bearing are concentrated at the starting holes of the spiral. These
stresses can be reduced by increasing the number of arms and the turn angle of the
spiral, or by reducing the bearing thickness and the arm width.
 Flexure bearing design is a compromise between the stiffness ratio and the maximum
stresses at the starting holes.