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Abstract The clearance in a translational joint affects the dynamic characteristics and leads to chaotic response of the mechanism. An experiment using a 3D translational joint with clearances was conducted… Click to show full abstract
Abstract The clearance in a translational joint affects the dynamic characteristics and leads to chaotic response of the mechanism. An experiment using a 3D translational joint with clearances was conducted to reveal the characteristics of the relative motion between the slide way and the slider. Then, a 3D model of translational joint with clearance was proposed. This model presents a comprehensive description of the contact modes in which a group of contact force models were employed to reflect different contact-impact phenomena. A method of contact detection, which aims to distinguish the positional relationship between two elements during the collision, was proposed according to the vector relationship of the apices of the contact segment between the slide way and the slider. To assess the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of a mechanism with translational clearance, the detection method was applied to numerical calculation and simulation of a crank-slider mechanism to illustrate its application, and investigate the nonlinear dynamics of this system. By combining theoretical calculation, simulation and experiment, the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of the mechanism with a clearance translational joint are revealed.