0

### Research Papers: Design Automation

J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):061401-061401-10. doi:10.1115/1.4029788.

Centralized augmented Lagrangian coordination (ALC) has drawn much attention due to its parallel computation capability, efficiency, and flexibility. The initial setting and update strategy of the penalty weights in this method are critical to its performance. The traditional weight update strategy always increases the weights and research shows that inappropriate initial weights may cause optimization failure. Making use of the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) optimality conditions for the all-in-one (AIO) and decomposed problems, the terms “primal residual” and “dual residual” are introduced into the centralized ALC, and a new update strategy considering both residuals and thus guaranteeing the unmet optimality condition in the traditional update is introduced. Numerical tests show a decrease in the iteration number and significant improvements in solution accuracy with both calculated and fine-tuned initial weights using the new update. Additionally, the proposed approach is capable to start from a wide range of possible weights and achieve optimality, and therefore brings robustness to the centralized ALC.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):061402-061402-10. doi:10.1115/1.4029894.

A major barrier in consumer adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is “range anxiety,” the concern that the vehicle will run out of power at an inopportune time. Range anxiety is caused by the current relatively low electric-only operational range and sparse public charging station (CS) infrastructure. Range anxiety may be significantly mitigated if EV manufacturers and CS operators work in partnership using a cooperative business model to balance EV performance and CS coverage. This model is in contrast to a sequential decision-making model where manufacturers bring new EVs to the market first and CS operators decide on CS deployment given EV specifications and market demand. This paper proposes an integrated decision-making framework to assess profitability of a cooperative business model using a multidisciplinary optimization model that combines marketing, engineering, and operations considerations. This model is demonstrated in a case study involving battery EV design and direct current (DC) fast-CS location network in Southeast Michigan. The expected benefits can motive both government and private enterprise actions.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):061403-061403-11. doi:10.1115/1.4029892.

In conventional wind farm design and optimization, analytical wake models are generally used to estimate the wake-induced power losses. Different wake models often yield significantly dissimilar estimates of wake velocity deficit and wake width. In this context, the wake behavior, as well as the subsequent wind farm power generation, can be expressed as functions of a series of key factors. A quantitative understanding of the relative impact of each of these key factors, particularly under the application of different wake models, is paramount to reliable quantification of wind farm power generation. Such an understanding is however not readily evident in the current state of the art in wind farm design. To fill this important gap, this paper develops a comprehensive sensitivity analysis (SA) of wind farm performance with respect to the key natural and design factors. Specifically, the sensitivities of the estimated wind farm power generation and maximum farm output potential are investigated with respect to the following key factors: (i) incoming wind speed, (ii) ambient turbulence, (iii) land area per MW installed, (iv) land aspect ratio, and (v) nameplate capacity. The extended Fourier amplitude sensitivity test (e-FAST), which helpfully provides a measure of both first-order and total-order sensitivity indices, is used for this purpose. The impact of using four different analytical wake models (i.e., Jensen, Frandsen, Larsen, and Ishihara models) on the wind farm SA is also explored. By applying this new SA framework, it was observed that, when the incoming wind speed is below the turbine rated speed, the impact of incoming wind speed on the wind farm power generation is dominant, irrespective of the choice of wake models. Interestingly, for array-like wind farms, the relative importance of each input parameter was found to vary significantly with the choice of wake models, i.e., appreciable differences in the sensitivity indices (of up to 70%) were observed across the different wake models. In contrast, for optimized wind farm layouts, the choice of wake models was observed to have marginal impact on the sensitivity indices.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):061404-061404-6. doi:10.1115/1.4030296.

This paper proposes a new method for designing the crease patterns of deployable membranes that can be wrapped up compactly. The method utilizes conformal mapping and the origami folding technique. The mapping of the flow with circulation can be used to control the angles between the fold lines, produce elements of the same shape, and maintain regularity of the fold lines. The proposed method thus enables the systematic and efficient design of complex patterns based on simple ones. The proposed method was successfully used to produce the patterns of Nojima and other extended new patterns of deployable membranes consisting of discrete equiangular spirals. The patterns were wrapped and used to form pillars such as regular polygonal, rectangular, and diamond pillars. Toward the industrial application of the proposed method, this paper also discusses pattern design for space-saving storage and to reduce the effect of thickness when using versatile materials.

Topics: Design , Membranes
Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):061405-061405-13. doi:10.1115/1.4030179.

This paper proposed a vine-copula-based structural reliability analysis method which is an effective approach for performing a reliability analysis on complex multidimensional correlation problems. A joint probability distribution function (PDF) among multidimensional random variables was established using a vine copula function, based on which a reliability analysis model was constructed. Two solution algorithms were proposed to solve this reliability analysis model: one was based on Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) and another one was based on the first-order reliability method (FORM). The former method provides a generalized computational method for a reliability analysis based on vine copula functions and can provide so-called “precise solutions”; the latter method has high computational efficiency and can be used to solve actual complex engineering problems. Finally, three numerical examples were provided to verify the effectiveness of the method.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):061406-061406-8. doi:10.1115/1.4030158.

The deployment of a cylinder based on origami with Kresling pattern, whose basic mechanisms are formed by the buckling of a thin cylindrical shell under torsional loading, is studied in this paper. The model consists of identical triangular panels with cyclic symmetry and has a small displacement internal inextensional mechanism. First, geometric formulation of the design problem is presented. Then, assuming that the deployment and folding process is uniform, the bistable behavior of the cylinder is discussed. It can be found that, during the deployment, the dimensionless strain energy increases first and then reduces to zero but followed by another sharp increase. Moreover, the limit condition of geometry parameters for the bistable phenomenon is also discussed. Finally, the bistable behavior is also studied by using numerical simulations for simple and more complex case of the cylinder with multistory. The numerical results agree well with the analytical predictions. Therefore, comparisons with finite element predictions have shown that the analytical solutions given in this paper are accurate and have validated the assumptions made in the derivations.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Design of Mechanisms and Robotic Systems

J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):062301-062301-12. doi:10.1115/1.4029665.

In joint replacement surgery, patient specific surgical guides (PSSGs) are used for accurate alignment of implant components. PSSGs are designed preoperatively to have a geometric fit with the patient's bone such that the incorporated guidance for drilling and cutting is instantly aligned. The surgeon keeps the PSSG in position with a pushing force, and it is essential that this position is maintained while drilling or cutting. Hence, the influence of the location and direction of the pushing force should be minimal. The extent that the pushing force may vary is what we refer to as docking robustness. In this article, we present a docking robustness framework comprising the following quantitative measures and graphical tool. Contact efficiency $ηc$ is used for the quantification of the selected bone–guide contact. Guide efficiency $ηg$ is used for the quantification of the whole guide including an application surface whereon the surgeon can push. Robustness maps are used to find a robust location for the application surface based on gradient colors. Robustness $R$ is a measure indicating what angular deviation is minimally allowed at the worst point on the application surface. The robustness framework is utilized in an optimization of PSSG dimensions for the distal femur. This optimization shows that 12 contacts already result in a relatively high contact efficiency of 0.74 ± 0.02 (where the maximum of 1.00 is obtained when the guide is designed for full bone–guide contact). Six contacts seem to be insufficient as the obtained contact efficiency is only 0.18 ± 0.02.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):062302-062302-10. doi:10.1115/1.4029825.

In this paper, we describe the use of turning functions to compare errors between the coupler and the target paths. The main reason to use turning functions is that the measured error does not depend on the mechanism scale or the position and rotation of the fixed link. Therefore, the searching space for the optimization algorithm is reduced. To carry out mechanism synthesis, we use an evolutionary algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been demonstrated in five synthesis examples.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):062303-062303-10. doi:10.1115/1.4030015.

This paper presents the Bennett plano-spherical hybrid linkage and proposes a novel metamorphic parallel mechanism consisting of this plano-spherical linkage as part of limbs. In light of geometrical modeling of the Bennett plano-spherical linkage, and with the investigation of the motion-screw system, the paper reveals for the first time the reconfigurability property of this plano-spherical linkage and identifies the design parameters that lead to change of constraint equations, and subsequently to variation of the order of the motion-screw system. Arranging this linkage as part of limbs, the paper further investigates the reconfiguration property of the plano-spherical linkage evolved parallel mechanism. The analysis reveals that the platform constraint-screw system varies following both bifurcation and trifurcation with motion branch variation in the 6R linkage integrated limb structure. Consequently, this variation of the platform constraint-screw system leads to reconfiguration of the proposed metamorphic parallel mechanism. The paper presents a way of analyzing reconfigurability of kinematic structures based on the screw-system approach.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Design of Direct Contact Systems

J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):063301-063301-7. doi:10.1115/1.4030272.

Approximate formulae are presented which give the time-varying mesh stiffness function for ideal solid spur and helical gears. The corresponding results compare very well with those obtained by using two-dimensional (2D) finite element (FE) models and specific benchmark software codes thus validating the proposed analytical approach. More deviations are reported on average mesh stiffness which, to a large extent, are due to the modeling of gear body deflections.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):065001-065001-8. doi:10.1115/1.4029893.

In this paper, we present the design and development of a portable, hand-operated composite compliant mechanism for estimating the failure-load of cm-sized stiff objects whose stiffness is of the order of 10 s of kN/m. The motivation for the design comes from the need to estimate the failure-load of mesoscale cemented sand specimens in situ, which is not possible with traditional devices used for large specimens or very small specimens. The composite compliant device, developed in this work, consists of two compliant mechanisms: a force-amplifying compliant mechanism (FaCM) to amplify sufficiently the force exerted by hand in order to break the specimen and a displacement-amplifying compliant mechanism (DaCM) to enable measurement of the force using a proximity sensor. The two mechanisms are designed using the selection-maps technique to amplify the force up to 100 N by about a factor of 3 and measure the force with a resolution of 15 mN. The composite device, made using a FaCM, a DaCM, and a Hall effect-based proximity sensor, was tested on mesoscale cemented sand specimens that were 10 mm in diameter and 20 mm in length. The results are compared with those of a large commercial instrument. Through the experiments, it was observed that the failure-load of the cemented sand specimens varied from 0.95 N to 24.33 N, depending on the percentage of cementation and curing period. The estimation of the failure-load using the compliant device was found to be within 1.7% of the measurements obtained using the commercial instrument and thus validating the design. The details of the design, prototyping, specimen preparation, testing, and the results comprise the paper.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Mech. Des. 2015;137(6):065002-065002-7. doi:10.1115/1.4030014.

A new concept for a mechanical antilock braking system (ABS) with a centrifugal braking device (CBD), termed a centrifugal ABS (C-ABS), is presented and developed in this paper. This new CBD functions as a brake in which the output braking torque adjusts itself depending on the speed of the output rotation. First, the structure and mechanical models of the entire braking system are introduced and established. Second, a numerical computer program for simulating the operation of the system is developed. The characteristics of the system can be easily identified and can be designed with better performance by using this program to studying the effects of different design parameters. Finally, the difference in the braking performance between the C-ABS and the braking system with or without a traditional ABS is discussed. The simulation results indicate that the C-ABS can prevent the wheel from locking even if excessive operating force is provided while still maintaining acceptable braking performance.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

• TELEPHONE: 1-800-843-2763 (Toll-free in the USA)
• EMAIL: asmedigitalcollection@asme.org