Compliant Mechanisms

Flexure hinges hold several advantages over classical rotation joints, including compactness, ease of fabrication, and no assembly, maintenance, friction losses, hysteresis, or need for lubrication. This book provides practical answers to the present and future needs of efficient design, analysis, and optimization of devices that incorporate flexure hinges. With a highly original approach it discusses classical and new types of flexure hinges for two- and three-dimensional applications, quantifies flexibility, precision of rotation, sensitivity to parasitic loading, energy consumption, and stress limitations through closed-form compliance equations, and addresses a wide range of industrial applications, including micro- and nanoscale mechanisms.