Work

Design and Optimization of Miniaturized Actuation System with Systematic Dual-Output Compliant Displacement Amplification

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Compliant displacement amplification mechanisms are widely used in MEMSs and micro-actuated systems to enhance the limited stroke of micro-actuators. However, systematic integration of instantaneous center building block (IC-BB)-based conceptual design and structured post-synthesis optimization for symmetric single-input dual-output compliant displacement amplification mechanisms (SIDO-CDAMs) remains limited in the literature. In this work, a symmetric SIDO-CDAM is first conceptually synthesized using the IC-BB approach by employing only compliant dyad building blocks (CDBs), resulting in a mechanism that produces dual outputs in the same direction. The synthesized conceptual mechanism is subsequently realized with necessary geometric refinements and modeled to validate the conceptual design. A two-stage post-synthesis optimization framework is then proposed to enhance geometrical advantage (GA) while reducing stiffness. In Stage-1, Taguchi design of experiments combined with analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to screen design parameters, identify the dominant factor, and fix it at its optimal level to eliminate masking effects. In Stage-2, a reduced Taguchi design integrated with gray relational analysis (GRA) is applied for multi-response optimization based on finite element analysis (FEA). Regression models and FEA-based confirmation tests are employed to validate the optimized design. The results demonstrate a significant improvement in displacement amplification with a simultaneous reduction in stiffness compared to the base design. The proposed IC-BB-based conceptual synthesis, coupled with structured post-synthesis optimization, provides a robust and computationally efficient framework for the development of micro-actuation and precision engineering applications.

Source: Actuators

DOI: 10.3390/act15050244

Authors: Rohan R. Ozarkar, Nilesh P. Salunke, Prajitsen G. Damle, Rahul Shukla, Shakeelur Raheman, Khursheed B. Ansari