Flexure for Self-Assembly

Conventional fastening mechanisms like nails, bolts, and welds are subject to manufacturing and inspection tolerances, differential thermal growth, and other sources of error that lead to over-constraint, among other challenges, for manufacturers and assemblers. Sandia researchers have developed a v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTech Briefs Vol. 44; no. 2; p. S23
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York SAE Media Group 01.02.2020
Subjects
Assembling
Complex systems
Degrees of freedom
Flexing
Inspection
Intellectual property
Laboratories
Manufacturing
Self-assembly
Stiffness
Tolerances
Welded joints
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Summary:Conventional fastening mechanisms like nails, bolts, and welds are subject to manufacturing and inspection tolerances, differential thermal growth, and other sources of error that lead to over-constraint, among other challenges, for manufacturers and assemblers. Sandia researchers have developed a versatile flexure design that resolves common issues such as over-constraint while providing more sophisticated control of freedom of movement, stiffness, configuration, and constraint and compliance features. This level of control and versatility is valuable in advanced or self-assembling manufacturing settings, particularly for large or complex systems. The flexure design offers compliance in all six degrees of freedom with a hard stop in one degree of freedom after a predetermined range of motion. It has the ability to accommodate a high degree of tunability, which can be determined by application.
ISSN:3068-2053
3068-207X