This paper develops new design criteria for lamina emergent mechanism (LEM) flexures with particular application to sheet-metal-formed metal flexures. The LEM flexure design criteria are based on the relative performance between the LEM flexure and a section of lamina that is of the same overall length, width, and thickness as the LEM flexure. Novel metal revolute and torsional LEM flexures are presented and evaluated against the LEM flexure design criteria. Both flexures meet the proposed criteria, and their performance is evaluated in the design of a basic crank-slider mechanism. When compared with unformed flexures of the same dimensions, the revolute and torsional metal LEM flexures are found to improve the crank-slider performance.

Issue Section:
Research Papers
Keywords:
bending, design engineering, forming processes, sheet metal processing
Topics:
Bending (Stress), Deflection, Engineering prototypes, Finite element analysis, Metals, Stiffness, Rotation, Design
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