Chapter 1: Introduction

• Kinematics:
The study of motion without regard to forces
• Kinetics:
The study of forces on systems in motion

Design of Machinery
Also
• Mechanism: a system of elements arranged to transmit
motion in a predetermined fashion
• Machine: a system of elements arranged to transmit motion
and energy in a predetermined fashion

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Reading Assignment
• Chapter 1
• The design process
• Units

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Chapter 2:

Kinematics Fundamentals

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• This chapter will present
• Definitions of a number of terms concepts and terms
fundamental to the synthesis and analysis of mechanism
• Some very simple but powerful analysis tools that are useful in
the synthesis of a mechanism

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2.3 Links
• Links – A link, as shown in Figure, is an (assumed) rigid
body that possesses at least two nodes that are points
for attachment to other links.
• Node – attachment points on links
• Binary link – two nodes
• Ternary link – three nodes
• Quaternary link – four nodes

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Link Classification
• Ground – fixed w.r.t. reference frame
• Crank – pivoted to ground, makes complete revolution
• Rocker – pivoted to ground, has oscillatory motion
• Coupler - link has complex motion, not attached to ground

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Joint
• A connection between two or more links (at
their nodes), which allows some motion
between the connected links
• Joints (also called kinematic pairs) can be
classified in several ways
• By the type of contact between the elements, line,
point, or surface
• By the number of degree of freedom allowed at the
joint
• By the type of physical closure of the joint: either force
or form closed
• By the number of links joined (order of the joint)

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Joint: on the basis of type of contact

• Lower pair: joints with surface contact (pin joint).

• Higher pair: joints with point or line contact. (Cylinders)

• What is practical advantage of lower pairs over higher pairs

???
• Answer (Next class, Read book)

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Six Types of Lower Pair

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Six Types of Lower Pair
• Explain how ???

The R and P pairs are the basic building blocks

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Higher Pairs

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Joint: number of degree of freedom allowed

• One-freedom: also called full joints (i.e., full = 1 DOF)

• Two-freedom joint: also called half joint (Half also refers to
more than two DOF)

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Full Joint Examples
• Pin joint allows 1 DOF
• Linear slider
• Threaded nut
• Tire on dry ground

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Half Joint Examples
• Collar on rod
• Tire on ice - friction determines the DOF

Slippage Occurs

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Design of Machinery
Joints: type of physical closure of the joint

• Form closed: when the design of the joint is holding

one link in a specific place
• Force closed: when a force (e.g. gravity) is tending the
link to be closed

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Joints: by the number of links joined

• The order of the link is defined as the number of links joined

minus one
• It takes two links to make a single joint; thus the simplest joint
combination of two links has joint order one

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Revision of definitions
A kinematic chain
• An assemblage of links and joints, interconnected in a way to
provide a controlled output
(motion in response to a supplied input motion.)
• A mechanism
• A kinematic chain in which at least one link has been
“grounded,” or attached, to the frame of reference (which
itself may be in motion).
• A machine is defined as:
• A combination of resistant bodies arranged to compel the
mechanical forces of nature to
• do work accompanied by determinate motions.

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A kinematic chain

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Kinematic Chain
• Open
• Closed

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2.4 Degree of Freedom or
Mobility
• The number of inputs that need to be provided in order to
create a predictable output
Also
• The number of independent coordinates required to define its
position

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Degree of freedom in Planar Mechanism

• For determining DOF of a system, one must account for the

number of links and joints
• The DOF of any assembly of links can be predicted from an
investigation of the Gruebler condition
• Any link in a plane has 3 DOF
• A system of L unconnected links have 3L DOF

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DOF
• Connecting the links by a full joint, y1 and y2 are combined
as y, and x1 and x2 are combined as x. this removed two
DOF, leaving four DOF

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DOF

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DOF
• Half joint removes only one DOF from the system, leaving the
system of two links connected by a half joint with a total of
five DOF.

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DOF
• When any link is grounded or attached to the
reference frame, all three of its DOF will be
removed
• This reasoning lead to Gruebler’s equation
M = 3L – 2J – 3G
Where: M = degree of freedom or mobility
L = number of links
J = number of joints
G = number of grounded links
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DOF
• In any real mechanism, even if more than one link of the
kinematic chain is grounded, the net effect will be to create
one larger, higher-order ground link, as there can be only one
ground plane. Thus G is always one, and Gruebler’s equation
becomes:
M = 3 (L – 1) – 2 J

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DOF
• The value of J must reflect the value of all joints
in the mechanism. That is, half joints count as ½
because they only remove one DOF. It is less
confusing to use Kutzbach’s modification of
Gruebler’s question in this form:
M = 3 (L – 1) – 2J1 – J2
Where: M = mobility
L = number of links
J1 = number of 1 DOF (full) joints
J2 = number of 2 DOF (half) joints

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DOF
• The value of J1 and J2 in these equations must still be
carefully determined to account for all full, half and
multiple joints in any linkage.
• Multiple joints count as one less than the number of links
joined and add to the “full” (J1) category
• The DOF of any proposed mechanism can be quickly
ascertained from this expression before investing any
time in more detailed design
• It is interesting to note that this equation has no
information in it about link size or shapes, only their
quantity

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Determine DOF ?

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Determine DOF ?

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Class Activity
• Calculate the degrees of freedom of the mechanisms (Dump
truck) shown in Figure (b).
• Figure (a) is an application of the mechanism.
• Hint: M  3( L 1)  2J1  J 2

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Class Activity
• Calculate the degrees of freedom of the mechanisms (Dump
truck) shown in Figure (b).
• Figure (a) is an application of the mechanism.
• Hint: M  3( L 1)  2J1  J 2

L= 4, J1 = 4 (at A, B, C, D), J2 = 0

m
m=1

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DOF in Spatial (3D)
Mechanisms
• The approach used to determine the mobility of
a planar mechanism can be easily extended to
three dimensions
• Each unconnected link in three-space has 6 DOF,
and any one of the six lower pairs can be used to
connect them, as can higher pairs with more
freedom
• A one-freedom removes 5 DOF, a two-freedom
joint removed 4 DOF
• Grounding a link removes 6 DOF
• We will limit our study to 2-D (Planar)
mechanisms
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2.5 Mechanisms and Structures
• If the DOF is positive, it will be a mechanism, and
the links will have relative motion
• If the DOF is exactly zero, then it will be a
structure, and no motion is possible
• If the DOF is negative, then it will be a preloaded
structure, which means that no motion is
possible and some stresses may also be present
at the time of assembly

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Design of Machinery
2.6 Number synthesis
• The determination of the number and order of
links and joints necessary to produce motion of a
particular DOF
• Link order in this context refers to the number of
nodes per link, i.e., binary, ternary, quaternary,
etc.
• The value of number synthesis is to allow the
exhaustive determination of all possible
combinations of link that will yield any chosen
DOF
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Hypothesis
• If all joints are full joints, an odd number of DOF requires an
even number of links and vice versa

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Design of Machinery
Link combinations for one DOF
• From the hypothesis proved, it is evident that for one-
DOF mechanisms, only combinations of 2, 4, 6, 8, … links
can be considered. Let
B = number of binary links
T = number of ternary links
Q = number of quaternaries
P = number of pentagonals
H = number of hexagonals
The total number of links in any mechanism will be:
L = B + T + Q + P + H + ………

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Link combinations for one DOF
• Since two link nodes are needed to make one joint:
J = nodes / 2
• And nodes = order of link X no. of links of that order
• Then
• Gruebler equation will become
(2 B  3T  4Q  5P  6 H  .......)
J
2
 2 B  3T  4Q  5P  6 H 
M  3( B  T  Q  P  H  1)  2 
 2 
M  B  Q  2 P  3H  3
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Link combinations for one DOF
• Note that ternary link is missing from final equation and it shows that DOF is
independent of the number of ternary links in the mechanism
• In order to determine all possible combinations of links for a particular DOF, lets
combine the equation of J with its previous value from gruebler’s equation
3 M (2 B  3T  4Q  5P  6 H )
( L  1)  
2 2 2
3L  3  M  2 B  3T  4Q  5P  6 H
• Combining with L = B+T+Q+P+H+…. To eliminate B we get

L  3  M  T  2Q  3P  4 H
• Now solve this equation and L=B+T+Q+P+H+….. Simultaneously to determine all
possible combinations of links for DOF =1, up to eight links

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Link combinations for one DOF
• Case 1
L=2
L-4=T+2Q+3P+4H=-2
This requires a negative number of links, so L = 2 is impossible
• Case 2
L=4
L-4=T+2Q+3P+4H=0, so : T = Q = P = H = 0
L = B + 0 = 4; B = 4
The simplest one-DOF linkage is four binary link- the fourbar linkage
• Case 3
L=6
L-4=T+2Q+3P+4H=2; so: P = H = 0
T may be 0 or 2; Q may only be 0 or 1
If Q = 0, then T must be 2, and
L = B + 2T + 0Q = 6; B = 4, T= 2
If Q= 1, then T must be 0 and:
L = B + 0T+ 1Q = 6; B = 5, Q = 1
There are then two possibilities for L = 6

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Link combinations for one DOF
Case 4
L=8

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Link combinations for one DOF
• Same can be applied for L = 8
• In tabular form, 1-DOF planar mechanism with revolute joints and up to 8 links

Total Links Binary Ternary Quaternary Pentagonal Hexagonal

4 4 0 0 0 0
6 4 2 0 0 0
6 5 0 1 0 0
8 7 0 0 0 1
8 4 4 0 0 0
8 5 2 1 0 0
8 6 0 2 0 0
8 6 1 0 1 0

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2.7 Paradoxes
• Because the Gruebler criterion pays no Agree Greubler Equation
attention to link size or shapes, it can give DOF = 0
misleading results in the face of unique
geometric configurations

Disagree Greubler Equation

DOF = 1

Disagree Greubler Equation

which predicts DOF = 0 While
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the DOF = 1
Paradoxes

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2.8 Isomers
• From Greek meaning “Having Equal Parts”
• Isomers in chemistry are compounds that have
the same number and type of atoms but which
are interconnected differently and thus have
different physical properties
• Linkage isomers are analogous to these chemical
compounds in that the links have various nodes
(electrons) available to connect to other links’
nodes
• The assembled linkage is analogous to the
chemical compound
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 2.8 Isomers
•Figure shows all the isomers for the simple cases of one DOF with 4 and 6 links
•Only way to construct a fourbar isomer is to have one binary link next to another
binary link.
•The 6-link case of 4 binaries and 2 ternaries has only two valid isomers
•These are known as Watt’s chain and Stephenson’s chain

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2.8 Isomers
• There is also a third potential isomer for this case of six links, but it fails the
test of distribution of degree of freedom, which requires that the overall DOF
(here 1) be uniformly distributed throughout the linkage and not concentrated
in a subchain
• This structure had a structural subchain of DOF = 0 in the triangular formation
of the two ternaries and the single binary connecting them
• This creates a truss, or delta triplet
• The remaining three binaries in series form a four bar chain (DOF = 1)

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Isomers: Franke’e molecules
• Franke’s “condensed notation for structural synthesis”
method can be used to help find the isomers of any
collection of links that includes some links of higher
order than binary
• Each higher order link is shown as a circle with its
number of nodes written in it as shown
• These circles are connected with a number of lines
emanating from each circle equal to its valence
• A number is placed on each line to represent the
quantity of binary links in that connection
• This gives a ‘molecular’ representation of the linkage and
allows exhaustive determination of all possible binary
link interconnections among the higher links

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Isomers: Franke’e molecules
• Note the correspondence in the figure between the linkages and their respective
Franke’ molecule
• The only combinations of three integers (including zero) that add to 4 are: (1,1,2),
(2,0,2), (0,1,3) and (0,0,4)
• The first two are the Stephen’s and Watt’s linkages; the third is the invalid isomer
• The fourth combination is also invalid as it results in a 2-DOF chain of 5 binaries in
series with the 5th binary comprised of the two ternaries locked together at two
nodes in a preloaded structure with a subchain DOF of -1

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2.9 Linkage Transformation
• The number synthesis technique give the designer a toolkit of
basic linkages of particular DOF.
• If the arbitrary constraint is relaxed that restricted to only
revolute joint, these basic linkages can be transformed to a
wider variety of mechanisms with even greater usefulness

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 Linkage Transformation Rules
• There are certain transformation rules that can be applied to planar
kinematic chains
1. Revolute joints in any loop can be replaced by prismatic joints with no change
in DOF of the mechanism, provided that at least two revolute joints remain in
the loop
2. Any full joint can be replaced by a half joint, but this will increase the DOF by
one
3. Removal of a link will reduce the DOF by one
4. The combination of rule 2 and 3 will keep the original DOF unchanged
5. Any ternary or higher-order link can be partially “shrunk” to a lower-order link
by coalescing nodes. This will create a multiple joint but will not change the
DOF of the mechanism
6. Complete shrinkage of a higher-order link is equivalent to its removal. A
multiple joint will be created and the DOF will be reduced

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Linkage Transformation: Example 1
• A four-bar crank-rocker linkage transformed into the four-bar slider by the
application of rule #1
• It is still a fourbar linkage
• Link 4 has become a sliding block
• The Gruebler’s equation is unchanged at one DOF because the slider block
provides a full joint against link 1, as did the pin joint it replaces

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Linkage Transformation: Example

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Linkage Transformation: Example 1

• Stephenson’s sixbar chain transformed by partial

shrinkage of a ternary link (rule # 5) to create a
multiple joint. It is still a one-DOF Stephenson's sixbar

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Linkage Transformation: Example

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2.10 Intermittent Motion
• A sequence of motions and dwells
• A dwell is a period in which the output link
remains stationary while the input link continues
to move.
• There are many applications in machinery that
require intermittent motion
• The cam-follower variation on the four bar
linkage is often used in these situations

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Geneva Mechanism
• A common form of intermittent motion device is the
Geneva mechanism

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Ratchet and Pawl

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Linear Geneva Mechanism

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2.11 Inversion
• An inversion is created by grounding a different
link in the kinematic chain
• The motion resulting from each inversion can be
quite different, but some inversions of a linkage
may yield motions similar to other inversions of
same linkages
• In these cases only some of the inversions may
have distinctly different motions
• Here only inversions that have distinctly different
motion are denoted as distinct inversions

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Slider inversion

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Stephenson’s sixbar
• Stephenson’s sixbar has three distinct inversions

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Watt’s Sixbar chain
• Watt’s sixbar chain has two distinct inversions

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2.12 The Grashof Condition
• The Grashof condition is a very simple relationship that
predicts the rotation behaviour or rotatability of a
fourbar linkage’s inversions based only on the link
lengths
Let: S = length of shortest link
L = length of longest link
P = length of one remaining link
Q = length of other remaining link
Then if: S + L ≤ P + Q
The linkage is Grashof and atleast one link will be capable
of making a full revolution with respect to the ground
plane, and is called Class I kinematic link

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The Grashof Condition
• If the inequality is not true, then the linkage is non-
Grashof and no link will be capable of a complete
revolution relative to any other link. This is called a Class
II kinematic chain
• The Grashof condition apply regardless of the order of
assembly of the links, i.e., S, L, P , Q or S, P, L, Q.
• The motion possible from a fourbar linkage will depend
on both the Grashof condition and the inversion chosen
• The inversions will be defined with respect to the
shortest link

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Grashof Motions
• For the Class I case, S + L < P + Q
• Ground either link adjacent to the shortest and a crank-rocker
link is formed, in which the shortest link will fully rotate and
the other link pivoted to the ground will oscillate

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Grashof Motions
• Ground the shortest link and this will form a double-crank, in
which both links pivoted to ground make complete revolutions

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Grashof Motions
• Ground the link opposite the shortest and it forms a Grashof
double-rocker, in which both links pivoted to ground oscillate
and only the coupler makes a full revolution

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Inversions of Grashof fourbar linkage

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Grashof Condition
• For the class II case,
S+L>P+Q
• All inversions will be triple-
rockers in which no link can
fully rotate

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Non-Grashof fourbar linkage

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Grashof Condition
• For the class III case, S + L = P + Q
• Referred to as special-case Grashof and also as a Class III
kinematic chain, all inversions will be either double-cranks or
crank-rockers but will have “change points” twice per
revolution of the input crank when the links all become
collinear

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Special-case Grashof Linkage

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Design of Machinery
2.13 Linkages of more than four bars

• Geared Fivebar Linkages

• Sixbar Linkages

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Geared Fivebar Linkages
• There will be cases when a more complicated solution is necessary
• Adding one links and one joint to form a fivebar will increase the
DOF by one, to two
• By adding a pair of gears to tie two links together with a new half
joint, the DOF is reduced again to one, and the Geared fivebar
mechanism (GFBM) is created

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2.14 Springs as links
• As long as the spring provide the right amount of force, and
hold the parts at the required place, it reduces the DOF of the
system to zero, as it is holding the system in static equilibrium
• However, the DOF can be restored by overcoming the spring
force

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Spring as Link

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Reading Assignment
• Compliant Mechanisms
• Micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)
• Practical Considerations
• Bearings in pin joints
• Mounts (Cantilever or straddle)
• Bearing Ratio
• Linkages vs. CAMS
• Motors and Drivers

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Problems

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Assignment Session
Problems from Ch#2
2.7~2.11, 2.13, 2.14, 2.17, 2.21

Following is for practice only:

Use Pro/Mechanism to solve: 2-45 to 2-47

Design of Machinery