Dynamic Behavior Analysis of a Planar Four-bar Linkage with Multiple ClearancesJoint

Clearances in the joints are inevitable in practicedue to tolerances, and defects arising from design andmanufacturing. In the presence of clearance at a joint, a mechanism gains some additional,uncontrollable degrees of freedom which are the source of error. Moreover, joints undergo wear andbacklashes and so cannot be used in precision mechanisms. In this study, the dynamic behaviour of aplanar mechanism with revolute joints, in the presence of clearances is investigated. A continuouscontact force model, based on the elastic Hertz theory together with a dissipative term, is used toevaluate the contact forces. Moreover, using a new contact model,the dynamic characteristics of planarmechanical system with multiple revolute joints in the presence of clearance are analyzed. Numericalresults for four-bar linkage with one, two and three revolute clearance joints are presented andcompared

Keywords:

DynamicFour-bar LinkageClearanceRevolute Joint