Parametric Design and Comparative Analysis of a Special Purpose Flexure Spring

Abstract

Flexure springs play pivotal role to ensure reliability and durability of the cryocooler compressors. The critical application of flexure spring intends to eliminate the wear, frictional losses and significantly vibrations. A parameter study was performed considering the design variables of a flexure spring to meet the requirements of the cryocooler compressors viz. complexity of the geometric configuration, radial and axial stiffness, fatigue life, material, etc. The parametric design approach was deployed using finite element analysis (FEA), to validate the same by experimental data to analyse the performance of the flexure spring. This paper also presents a comparative analysis of the design variables in terms of axial and radial stiffness, induced stress as well as the manufacturing methods’ considerations to optimize the design of a special purpose flexure spring for the cryocooler compressors. Furthermore, experimental study of the flexure spring was carried out in order to maximize the stroke.