RESEARCH ARTICLE

Analytical approach to robust design of nonlinear mechanical systems

  • Jian ZHANG ,
  • Nengsheng BAO ,
  • Guojun ZHANG ,
  • Peihua GU
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  • Department of Mechatronic Engineering, Shantou University, Shantou 510063, China

Received date: 10 Sep 2008

Accepted date: 05 Nov 2008

Published date: 05 Jun 2009

Copyright

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Abstract

The robustness of mechanical systems is influenced by various factors. Their effects must be understood for designing robust systems. This paper proposes a model for describing the relationships among functional requirements, structural characteristics, design parameters and uncontrollable variables of nonlinear systems. With this model, the sensitivity of systems was analyzed to formulate a system sensitivity index and robust sensitivity matrix to determine the importance of the factors in relation to the robustness of systems. Based on the robust design principle, an optimization model was developed. Combining this optimization model and the Taguchi method for robust design, an analysis was carried out to reveal the characteristics of the systems. For a nonlinear mechanical system, relationships among structural characteristics of the system, design parameters, and uncontrollable variables can be formulated as a mathematical function. The characteristics of the system determine how design parameters affect the functional requirements of the system. Consequently, they affect the distribution of system performance functions. Nonlinearity of the system can facilitate the selection of design parameters to achieve the required functional requirements.

Key words: robust; design; nonlinear

Cite this article

Jian ZHANG , Nengsheng BAO , Guojun ZHANG , Peihua GU . Analytical approach to robust design of nonlinear mechanical systems[J]. Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering, 2009 , 4(2) : 203 -214 . DOI: 10.1007/s11465-009-0022-0

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50675126). The authors wish to thank an industrial partner of printing equipment in Shantou for their co-operation.
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