Analysis and Comparison of the Displacement Amplifiers with a Generalized Mathematical Model

The bridge-type amplifier and the lever-type amplifier are the two frequently used displacement amplifiers in the precision engineering. However, to the knowledge of the authors, the analysis and the performance comparison between the two amplifiers was not frequently reported, which is instrumental in realizing and selecting the displacement amplifiers in the practice application. To this end, the two types mechanisms are analyzed and compared with a compliance matrix based model. Via the analysis and comparison, some interesting results which are significant for the amplifiers are founded: 1). The amplification ratio is related to the input displacement when the elastic load is applied; 2) The limited amplification ratio phenomenon is observed in the bridge-type mechanism but also the lever-type one; 3) The comparison of the flexure hinges design for the two amplifiers are presented; 4) The load capacity of the two amplifiers are first analyzed and compared in this paper. Finally, the accuracy of the modeling is verified by FEA simulation studies.