DEGREE OF 2

FREEDOM

BY: ENGR. MARK IVAN C. ESPINOSA

 DEGREE OF FREEDOM
 Also known as degree of mobility, is used to define the number
of parameters or variables to describe the overall movement of
all the links in mechanism.

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 DEGREE OF FREEDOM

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 GRUEBLER’S EQUATION
 It is used to estimate the Degree of Freedom of mechanism and written as:

DOF = 3(N – 1) – 2J – H
Where:
• N = number of links in the mechanism, in which one is fixed link
• J = number of lower pairs
• H = number of higher pairs

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 1: PARALLEL MECHANISM
DOF = 3(N – 1) – 2J – H
2 L3 3
L4 N=4
L2
J=4
1 4
H=0
L
1

DOF = 3(4 – 1) – 2(4) – 0

DOF = 1

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 2: MATING OF 2 SPUR GEARS
DOF = 3(N – 1) – 2J – H

L N=3
2 L J=2
1 3 2 H=1
L
1

DOF = 3(3 – 1) – 2(2) – 1

DOF = 1

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 3: SLIDER AND CRANK MECHANISM
DOF = 3(N – 1) – 2J – H

2 N=4
L L
2 L J = 4 (3 revolute & 1 prismatic)
3
3 H=0
L 1
4

4
1

DOF = 3(4 – 1) – 2(4) – 0

DOF = 1

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 4: KNIFE TYPE CAM AND FOLLOWER
DOF = 3(N – 1) – 2J – H

N=3
J = 2 (1 Revolute & 1 Prismatic)
2 H=1
L
3
L DOF = 3(3 – 1) – 2(2) – 1
2

L 1 DOF = 1
1

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 5: ROLLER TYPE CAM AND FOLLOWER
DOF = 3(N – 1) – 2J – H

N=4
3 J = 3 (2 Revolute & 1 Prismatic)
L
H=1
24
L
L 3 DOF = 3(4 – 1) – 2(3) – 1
2

L 1 DOF = 2
1

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 6: CRANK & SLOTTED LEVER MECHANISM
DOF = 3(N – 1) – 2J – H

E N=6
D J = 7 (5 revolute & 2 prismatic)
H=0
Links:
B • AB (frame)
C
• BC
• AD DOF = 3(6 – 1) – 2(7) – 0
• DE
• Slider C DOF = 1
• Slider E
A
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 7: GRUEBLER’S EQUATION PARADOX
DOF = 3(N – 1) – 2J – H
2 3 L3 4

L5 N=5
L2 L4
J=6
1 5 6 H=0
L
1

DOF = 3(5 – 1) – 2(6) – 0

By looking in the mechanism, it
should have 1 degree of X DOF = 0
freedom. = Structure
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 7: GRUEBLER’S EQUATION PARADOX
TIP:
2 3 L3 4 Before solving the DOF of a mechanism,
L5 Check if it has a redundant link.
L2 L4
1 5 6 Redundant link doesn’t contribute to the
L
motion of the mechanism.
1

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 EXAMPLE 7: GRUEBLER’S EQUATION PARADOX

2 3 L3 4

L5 N=4
L2 L4
J=4
1 5 6 H=0
L
1

DOF = 3(4 – 1) – 2(4) – 0

DOF = 1

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 END
LECTURE.

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT