• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1683-1688
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• 2012

Topology optimization is applied for the lightweight design of three main parts of a vertical articulated robot: a base frame, a lower and a upper frame. Design domains for optimization are set as large solid regions that completely embrace the original parts, which are discretized by using three-dimensional solid elements. Design variables are parameterized one-to-one to the material properties of each element by using the SIMP method. The objective of optimization is set as the multi-objective form combining the natural frequencies and mean compliances of a structure for which load steps of interest are selected from the multibody dynamics analysis of a robot. The obtained results of topology optimization are post-processed to designs favorable to manufacturability for casting process. The final optimized results are 11.0% (base frame), 12.0% (lower frame) and 10.0% (upper frame) lighter with similar or even higher static and dynamic stiffnesses than the original models.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.78-86
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• 2019

This paper describes the stiffness optimization of the torsion spring hinge of the large SAR antenna considering the deployment performance. A large SAR antenna is folded in a launch environment and then unfolded when performing a mission in orbit. Under these conditions, it is very important to find the proper stiffness of the torsion spring hinge so that the antenna panels can be deployed with minimal impact in a given time. If the torsion spring stiffness is high, a large impact load at the time of full deployment damages the structure. If it is weak, it cannot guarantee full deployment due to the deployment resistance. A multi-body dynamics analysis model was developed to solve this problem using RecurDyn and the development performance were predicted in terms of: development time, latching force, and torque margin through deployment analysis. In order to find the optimum torsion spring stiffness, the deployment performance was approximated by the response surface method (RSM) and the optimal design was performed to derive the appropriate stiffness value of the rotating springs.