• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.27-33
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• 2001

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.971-977
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• 2012

Redundant actuated parallel kinematic machines (PKMs) have been widely researched to increase stiffness of PKMs. This paper presents theoretical analyses on the stiffness of non-redundant and redundant actuated PKM. Stiffness of each mechanism is defined by summation of actuator and structural stiffness; the actuator stiffness is determined from displacements of actuators, and the structural stiffness is determined from deformations of links by external forces. Calculated actuator and structural stiffness of non-redundant PKM show same distribution in entire workspace. On the contrary, the actuator and the structural stiffness of a redundant PKM has very different distribution in the workspace; so, we conclude the structural stiffness of redundant PKM should be considered to design the redundant PKM. The results can be used to design and analyze non-redundant and redundant PKMs.