Modeling of a Cartwheel Flexural Pivot

A cartwheel flexural pivot has a small center shift as a function of loading and ease of manufacturing. This paper addresses an accurate model that includes the loading cases of a bending moment combined with both a horizontal force and a vertical force. First, a triangle flexural pivot is modeled as a single beam. Then, the model of cartwheel flexural pivot based on an equivalent model is developed by utilizing the results of the triangle pivot. The expressions for rotational displacement and center shift are derived to evaluate the primary motion and the parasitic motion; the maximum rotational angle is simply formulated to predicate the range of motion. Finally, the model is verified by finite element analysis. The relative error of the primary motion is less than 1.1% for various loading cases even if the rotational angle reaches ±20 deg, and the predicted errors for the two center shift components are less than 15.4% and 7.1%. The result shows that the model is accurate enough for designers to use for initial parametric design studies, such as for conceptual design.