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Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE

International Conference on Information and Automation


June 20 - 23, Harbin, China

Definition Measurement Unit with Flexure Hinges for a


Wind Tunnel Balance
Wang Tianhao, Qiu Junwen and Liu Xihe
Department of wind tunnel balance technology
AVIC Aerodynamics Research Institute
No.2, Yiman Street, Harbin, CHINA (post code:150001)
Wangth876@yahoo.com.cn

then through measurement and calculation, it could get the


Abstract - A definition measurement unit with flexure hinges,
which will usually be applied as the main focus was directed on aerodynamic load of model. In this, the definition
the measurement of definite forces, has been design for a wind measurement unit used for axis-force measurement, that is, it
tunnel balance. The character of various notch type flexure is one of the decoupled forces for aerodynamic load on the
hinges was analysed in this paper, and two pairs of symmetric single directions.
circular flexure hinges at 90 degrees was selected for a definition In this article, a wind tunnel balance, which was
measurement unit. According to the definition measurement unit employing definition measurement units with flexure hinges
flexure hinge's arrangement for the performance and the to transmit load as well as to separate the various components
mechanics characters of various boundary constraint conditions, is proposed, shown in Fig. 2.
conclude that the definition measurement unit with side surface
slide constraints and uniform offset arrangement have good Upper frame
performance for eliminating non-axis direction load interference
to measurement of axis direction force, and then measure the axis
force efficiently, and then meet the demand of high load measure
precision of model in wind tunnel balance .

Index Terms -definition measurement unit, flexure hinge,


force & moment measurement, wind tunnel balance Definition measurement unit

I. INTRODUCTION
Measurement of steady and fluctuating forces acting on a
body in a flow is one of the main tasks in wind tunnel
experiments [1]. In aerodynamic testing, strain gauge balances
will usually be applied for this task as the main focus was
directed on the measurement of steady forces, shown in Fig. 1. Bottom frame

Fig.2 Detailed schematic view of the wind tunnel balance

Bottom frame is fixed to the wind tunnel structure and


upper frame is bolted to the model support system. The frame
of the balance is carried on six definition measurement units
provided with elastic pivots/flexures, in order to minimize
mechanical effects between measuring channel. The balance is
design as a single elastic body, in which the size of individual
definition measurement unit is determined merely by stiffness
and rigidity, with strains in the lower range of the linear
section of the bending characteristic.
In order to realize the aerodynamic load's independent
measure, the definition measurement unit adopts structure of
Flexible hinges. Flexible hinges offer an alternative to
traditional mechanical joints that alleviates many of their
disadvantages. Flexure hinges utilize the inherent compliance
of a material rather than restrain such deformation. These
joints eliminate the presence of friction, backlash, and wear.
Fig.1 The transaction relation of aerodynamic load and measurement load Further benefits include up to sub-micron accuracy due to
their continuous monolithic construction. As a consequence,
After decoupling, the aerodynamic load on the model Flexible hinges are widely used for high-precision, small-
could realize six directions constraint force measurement, and displacement mechanisms [2] [3] [4] [5].

978-1-4244-5704-5/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 1457


II. DESIGN OF THE LOAD TRANSDUCER Evaluation

concentration

compactness
Criteria

fabrication
Axis drift

Off—axis
Range of

stiffness

Ease of
motion
Wind tunnel balance is a micro-displacement structure,

Stress
as shown in Fig. 3. Each of the six kinematics chains of the
Notch
wind tunnel balance is made of a prismatic joint. Wind tunnel Type
balance consists in upper-frame, bottom frame, and six load
transducers unit. Connections between two frames are six
definition measurement units. And it arranges three definition
measurement units on Y-direction used for measurement of - - o - + +
lift Y, pitch moment Mz and roll moment Mx. And it arranges
two definition measurement units on Z-direction used for Rectangular
measurement of side force Z and yaw moment My. And it
arranges one definition measurement unit on X-direction used
for measurement of drag X. With flexure hinges structure, the - o o - + +
definition measurement units could realize the coupled force
measurement of aerodynamic load. Ellipse
Y

- o o o + +
4
Right circle
(+: good, o: normal, -: poor)
X
For the same length hinge and same minimum width, we
have learned that rectangular flexure hinges have the largest
displacement, and right circle flexure hinges have the highest
accuracy.
Z 1
So, when the design requires high stiffness and small
range of motion, pick the circular notch joint; for low stiffness
2 and larger range of motion, pick the rectangular flexure hinge.
The elliptical joint has intermediate stiffness and range of
motion. According to the table above, the notch dimensions
5 could be designed to achieve desired stiffness and reduce
stress. In load transducer systems, accuracy should be the
more important design factor, because stress is not a
significant factor due to little movement. We, therefore,
3 selected the right circle flexure hinge.
There are many flexure hinges that allow compliance
about more than one axis. Two rotational, orthogonal
compliant axes represent a universal-joint shown in Fig. 4 and
1 Y-direction definition measurement unit
Fig. 5. As the limitation of balance construction, definition
2 Z-direction definition measurement unit
3 X-direction definition measurement unit measurement unit should be compactable; therefore, compliant
4 upper frame notch universal flexure hinge was selected.
5 bottom frame
Fig.3 Kinematics structure of the wind tunnel balance.
B. Structure of load transducer
Structure of load transducer is composed of transducer
A Selection of flexure hinge and flexure hinges. In order to meet the demand of balance
Research has been done on the different kind of flexure construction jiggle, the load transducer is arranged with the
hinges and their application [6] [7]. Flexure hinges can be universal flexure hinges. The universal joint is consists of 2
divided into three kinds in view of their profiles. Various type pairs of flexure hinges at 90º placed in a serial way, shown in
hinge performance is shown in Table I. Fig. 6. High precision stain-gauge load transducer could
For the same length hinge and same minimum width, we realize the axis force measurement, as non-axis force could
have learned that rectangular flexure hinges have the largest produce the structure of load transducer deform, so it is
displacement, and right circle flexure hinges have the highest measured by other balance structure. Due to its particular
accuracy. design of flexure hinges, the wind tunnel balance's motions are
TABLE I free of dry friction or mechanical backlash; the repeatability is
PERFORMANCE OF FLEXTURE HINGES
therefore of a few micrometers.

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Fig. 4 Compliant notch universal flexure hinge

Fig. 7 Profile of a symmetric right-circular flexure hinge


A Symmetric circular flexure hinge could be calculated
by the Castigliano's second theorem:
∂u (2)
Δ=
∂P
In the formula:
 —— deformation;
u —— deformation energy;
Fig. 5 Co-linear notch U- flexure hinge
P —— overload.
Some of these methods provide better accuracies than the
others depending on the t/R ratios of circular flexure hinges.
Paros and Weisbord [10] were the first research group to
introduce right circular flexure hinges. Smith has derived
general equation for any elliptic notch-joint. Smith's
compliant notch
equations approximate Paros' equations at the limits:
universal flexure hinge eccentricity = 0  rectangular joint; eccentricity = 1 
circular joint [11].
Symmetric right-circular flexure hinge design equations
include both the full and simplified compliances equations.
Full design equations are as follows:
β = t / 2 R, γ = 1 + β , θ m = π / 2 for symmetric right-
transducer circular flexure hinge
Rotational compliance equationˈ α M z z

Fig. 6 Definition measurement unit with flexure hinge


αZ ª 1 º ª1 + β 3+2β +β º
2
3
=
«¬ 2 β + β »¼ «¬ γ 2β +β 䯵 »
III. ANALYSIS OF THE DEFINITION MEASUREMENT UNIT { +
γ䯴 ¼
2 2 2 2
MZ 2 EbR
A. Theoretical equation of the symmetric circular flexure
6䯴 1+β䯵
hinge ×[ 1-䯴 1+β -γ 䯵 ]+[
2
] (3)
䯴 2β +β 䯵
2 3/2
A Symmetric circular flexure hinge will be now analysed
[8] [9]
. The longitudinal section of a symmetric circular flexure
hinge is illustrated in Fig. 7. The variable thickness, y(x), can 2+β (γ -β )
×[tan ( ×
-1
)]}
be expressed in terms of the flexure geometry as: β
2

1-(1+β -γ )
y ( x) = t + 2[ R − x(2r − x)] (1) Compliance equation in X-directionˈ Δx Fx
In the formula:
t —— minimum width of flexure hinge
R—— radius of flexure hinge

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Δx 1 γ −β irregular shapes and curved boundaries without much loss of
=
−1
[ −2 tan accuracy.
Fx Eb 1 − (1 + β − γ )
2
As depicted in the following table, the modelled flexure
(4) hinges' material constants are shown in Table II and
2(1 + β ) −1
2+β γ −β dimensions of the flexure hinges are shown in Table III.
+ tan ( × )]
2β + β 2 β 1 − (1 + β − γ )
2
TABLE II
MATERIAL CONSTANTS
Compliance equation in Y-direction, Δy Fy
Description Abbreviation Value
Δy αZ
= R sin θm (
2 2
) Elastic modulus E 2E5 MPa
Fy MZ
Density  7.85E4 N/m3

-
2Eb
3
{ª«¬ 1+ β
(1 + β − cos θm )
2

2 + (1 + β ) /(2β + β ) º
2

(1 + β − cos θm )
2

»
¼
Poisson ratio  0.33

Tensile strength t 1E3 MPa


(5)
ª 4(1 + β ) 2(1 + β ) º Yield strength y 8E2 MPa
× sin θm + « − »
(2β + β ) »
2 3/ 2

¬« 2β + β
2
¼ TABLE III
DEIMENSION OF THE FLETURE HINGE

× tan
−1 2+β
β
tan
θm
2
− (2θm ) } Description Abbreviation Value

Radius of flexure hinge R 0.025 m


Shear compliance: shear modulus, G = E /[2(1 + ν )]
ª Δy º 1 ª 2(1 + β ) 2+β θ º Width of flexure hinge b 0.080 m
« » = «−θ m +
−1
× tan tan m » (6)
¬ Fy ¼s Gb «¬ 2β + β
2
β 2 »¼ Minimum thickness of
t 0.005 m
flexure hinge
Simplified design equations are as follows: Maximum central axis
L 0.450 m
Rotational compliance equationˈ α M z z
distance of flexure hinge

αZ 9π R1/2
= (7) A mapped meshing technique is used instead of a smart
MZ 2 Ebt 5/2 meshing, the later automatically produces fine meshing at
areas that high stress concentrations were most likely to occur.
Compliance equation in X-directionˈ Δx Fx Mapped meshing is advantageous over smart meshing because
Δx 1 mapped meshing provides better control of the distribution
ª¬π䯴 R/t䯵 − 2.57 º¼ = 1/2
(8) and size of elements in an area as shown in Fig. 8. It was
Fx Eb
found that the accuracy of the FEA model was significantly
Compliance equation in Y-direction, Δy Fy influenced by the way the boundary conditions were assigned
on a model.
5/2
Δy 9π § R ·
= ¨ ¸ (9)
Fy 2 Eb © t ¹

Shear compliance: shear modulus, G = E /[2(1 + ν )]


ª Δy º 1
« » = ª¬π䯴 R/t䯵 − 2.57 º¼
1/2
(10)
¬ Fy ¼ s Gb
B. Finite element analysis
The finite element method (FEM) has usually been used
for flexure hinges' analysis. A load transducer structure was
modelled in Patran to study its behaviour [12]. Universal
flexure hinge models were generated using 8-node, three- X
Z Y
dimensional, solid elements, with six degree-of-freedom on
each node, which are translations in the nodal x-, y- and z-
directions and rotations in the nodal Mx, My and Mz
directions. This element type is more suitable to model Fig. 8 FEA mapped meshing

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1) Influence of vary boundary conditions
o F o F
Take Universal flexure hinge as the example, as shown in
Fig. 9, then fixes bottom side surface, and put a force FYZ on
the central point O of the top side surface. The value of the
force is constant and the direction is parallel YZ plane. Now
set the bound constraint condition on the top side surface: plan
A is slide constraint type and plan B is free constraint type,
and the central point O's displacement change is shown in Fig.
10.
o F
X

Z Y

(a) (b)

ΰaαtranslation along X-axis direction arrangement


ΰbαmirror by plane of symmetry arrangement
Fig. 11 Layout of the Universal flexure hinges
X
0.4
Y
Z Y
3ODQ$7UDQVODWLRQOD\RXW
0.3
Fig. 9 Profile of a flexure hinge with boundary conditions 3ODQ%0LUURUOD\RXW
0.2

0.1
0.5
Y
Plan A: Slide constraint
0 Z
0.4 -0.7 -0.5 -0.3 -0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7
(without MzˈMy)
Plan B: Free constraint -0.1
0.3
-0.2
0.2
-0.3
0.1
Z -0.4
0
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
Fig.12 Central point O's displacement of the top side surface
-0.1

-0.2 From the Fig. 12, in the plan A, the top side surface
-0.3 central point O's displacement is the constant, while in the
plan B, it is changeable, and the maximum value is more than
-0.4
those of plan A. This phenomenon is very obvious, especially
-0.5 with the decrease of X direction length,
Fig.10 Central point O's displacement of the top side surface IV. CONCLUSION
From the Fig. 10, in the plan A, the displacement of From the analysis and design of load transducer with
central point O on the top side surface is less than plan B and flexure hinges for a wind tunnel balance, get the conclusion
on the condition of free constrains type, the top side surface that: definition measurement unit with flexure hinges could
appears displacement and rotation simultaneously, and with direct measure axial component value of force, which could
the increase of load, the rotation angle increase too. meet the demand of high precision measurement in
2) Influence of vary layout of the Universal flexure aerodynamic testing. Some method, such as, Symmetric
hinges Circular flexure hinges, translation layout of Universal flexure
The arrangement of universal flexure hinges on load hinges and slide constrain of load transducer's motion face are
transducer has two ways: the one is translation along the axis helpful for enhance the position precision of wind tunnel
direction (plan A); the other is mirror by plane of symmetry balance, and then promote the wind tunnel balance
(plan B), as shown in Fig. 11. Then fixes bottom side surface, measurement accuracy.
and put a load FYZ on the central point O in the top side
surface, and the value of the force is constant, the direction is ACKNOWLEDGMENT
parallel YZ plane, then the central point O's displacement The paper is supported by Aeronautical Science
change is shown in Fig. 12. Foundation of China (ASFC), and project number is
2009ZD27005.

1461
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