DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURING THE ELASTIC PIVOTS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MANUFACTURING ERROR

Abstract

The stiffness of an elastic pivot, a kind of torsional hinge, must usually be small in the direction of axial rotation and high in all other directions. In some applications, such as the gimbal suspension of the tuned gyroscope in an inertial guidance system, the size of the elastic pivot is small, and consequently the pivot becomes very sensitive to machining error. In this paper, we model the machining error in terms of the position error and roll-pitch-yaw angle error of the electrode in the electric discharge machining process. In the corresponding design problem, we recommend design procedures that allow a compromise between product performance and manufacturability. This paper introduces different types of elastic pivots, analyzes machining error due to machining inaccuracy, and treats the shape optimization. We believe that the design-for-manufacturability methodology developed here will be helpful in the design of many other precision mechanical components.