Velocity Fluctuation in Four-Bar Linkages and Slider-Crank Mechanisms

Abstract

Velocity fluctuations have been recognized as important in the dynamics and statics of mechanisms with time-varying angular velocities as long ago as the classical transmission-angle problem [1, 2]. The analysis of velocity fluctuations represents a more difficult problem, primarily in view of greater nonlinearity. The present investigation represents an algebraic solution of the velocity-fluctuation optimization problem. This leads to numerically efficient optimization procedures and sheds some light also on other problems, such as certain dwell-type intermittent-motion mechanisms and the synthesis of “constant-velocity” linkages.