Stochastic Linkage Modeling for Mechanical Error Analysis of Planar Mechanisms*

Abstract

This paper addresses stochastic linkage modeling for mechanical error analysis of planar mechanisms. Considering the effects of joint angle variations, the effective link length model is generalized. The generalized model produces more accurate predictions of mechanical errors than the effective link length model. However, the generalization requires more complicated mechanical error analysis. This paper proposes a stochastic model to intuitively consider the effects of tolerances and clearances, based on the clearance vector concept. Stochastic models are applied to typical mechanisms and their results are compared with those of Monte Carlo simulations. The comparison shows that the proposed stochastic model is effective for mechanical error analysis. The clearance vector model yields more accurate results and is easier to use than the generalized effective link length model.