Stiffness characteristics of a laser beam melted (LBM) additive-manufactured flexure mechanism

Abstract Additive manufacturing technology has advantages for realizing complex monolithic structures, which provides huge potential for developing advanced flexure mechanisms for precision manipulation. However, the characteristics of flexure hinges fabricated by laser beam melted (LBM) additive manufacturing are currently rarely known. In this paper, the stiffness characterization of a flexure parallel hinge fabricated by LBM additive manufacturing technology has been studied. The geometrical accuracy of the additive-manufactured flexure hinges has been evaluated by three-dimensional scanning. The stiffness characteristics and the effective hinge thickness of the flexure mechanism have been investigated through finite element analyses and experimental tests. The results suggest that the presented LBM additive-manufactured flexure mechanisms are applicable for developing precision manipulation systems.