Circuit Analysis of Stephenson Chain Six-Bar Mechanisms

Abstract

Abstract A circuit quantifies a complete range of motion that a linkage can achieve without disassembly. A Stephenson linkage may have from one to six circuits. Current computer simulation packages are unable to define a circuit. Therefore, the simulations are limited to a small fraction of the total motion capability of a Stephenson linkage. This paper presents a method to completely and unambiguously define all circuits of any pin-jointed Stephenson linkage. The method has been optimized for conversion to a computer algorithm. Once the circuits are known, any set of design positions can be matched to the circuits to determine if the mechanism can reach all positions without disassembly.