MECHANISM AND MACHINE THEORY, vol.102, pp.123-134, 2016 (SCI-Expanded)
Generally, the pseudo-rigid-body model of compliant mechanisms is single degree-of-freedom in the literature. In order to obtain more flexibility, compliant mechanisms can also be synthesized from multi degree-of-freedom pseudo-rigid-body models. In this study, analysis and design procedures for such a compliant five-bar mechanism are presented with underactuation. Analysis is performed with different loading scenarios. An approximate method for dead center estimation is introduced. Some results are verified by using finite element analysis. A generalized design procedure for the mechanism is proposed. An advantage of underactuation over constrained mechanisms is presented with an example. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.