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SUMMARY:“ Zero Stiffness Large Deflection Meso/Micro Structures” - Nim
 a Tolou
DTSTART:20110729T100000Z
DTEND:20110729T110000Z
UID:TALK32094@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lorna Everett
DESCRIPTION:This talk will discuss how (i) zero stiffness large deflection
  structures and (ii) the analytical solution for their large deflections c
 an be developed. Large deflection structures rely on compliance for their 
 motion\, but the stiffness associated with their motion becomes a great ch
 allenge to their mechanical efficiency\, as a major part of the input ener
 gy is used for deflection of the structure. While conventionally\, optimiz
 ation is used in order to reduce the stiffness of compliant mechanisms\, w
 e propose a different approach: static balancing\, which compensates for t
 he stiffness and allows for near-100% efficiency while at the same time th
 e structure robustness will be remaining the same. This results in statica
 lly balanced compliant mechanisms (SBCM)\, which are zero stiffness monoli
 thic structures with near zero actuation force to deflect its members or a
 ct against gravity (i.e. constant potential energy). To this end\, an anal
 ytical method to create large deflection analytical solution of SBCM will 
 be introduced\, some real life examples of small scale large deflection SB
 CM will be given and some thoughts on challenges ahead and future directio
 ns will be discussed
LOCATION:Engineering Department - ***LR5***
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