Paper number 446

OPTIMIZATION OF A COMPOSITE MATERIAL BOX-BEAM FOR USE IN A HAPTIC DEVICE

Pierre Cyr and Dr. Larry B. Lessard

Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University
817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2K6, Canada

Summary

The objective of this work was to develop an optimization method based on a finite-element procedure to find the optimal ply angles for a laminate used in a box-beam of specified dimensions and material. This box-beam can then become the base for the implementation of a linkage of the Freedom-7 Haptic Hand Controller [1], a small robotic device. The optimization algorithm is based on the Nedler-Mead Simplex Method and was used to determine the lay-ups providing the highest fundamental frequencies for a specific box-beam. For the box-beam studied, the most detrimental vibration mode was wall squinting and the optimal lay-up involved high ply angles at the top and bottom of the laminate. Changing the dimensions of the box-beam had some impact on the optimal lay-up, but more importantly on the highest achievable fundamental frequency. A cross-section with a height-to-width ratio of 2 yielded the highest fundamental frequency.

Keywords

optimization, Finite Element method (FEM), vibration, fundamental mode, box-beam.