This paper presents a general equivalent approach to solve the stiffness modeling or load-deformation problem of non-redundant parallel mechanisms. Based on the principal axes decomposition of structure compliance matrices, an equivalent six-degrees-of-freedom (6-DOFs) serial mechanism is established to approximate the load-deformation behavior of each flexible link in the mechanism. Hence, each limb of the parallel mechanism can be equivalent to a serial redundant rigid body mechanism with passive elastic joints, and the load-deformation problem can be transformed to the equilibrium configuration calculation of the equivalent mechanism. The main advantage of the proposed method is that the robotic kinematics and statics, rather than the elastic mechanics, can be directly adopted to solve the equilibrium configuration of the parallel mechanism under external load. Besides, a closed form solution of the corresponding deformation can be obtained, which can be solved by the gradient-based searching algorithm. Therefore, the final deformation will no longer be linear to the external load, which makes this method more accurate and more suitable for the deformation prediction and compensation in real industrial working conditions. In order to verify the effectiveness and correctness of this method, a 3PRRU parallel manipulator will be introduced as an example, to compare the load-deformation results with the finite element analysis (FEA) simulation and matrix calculation methods, so the nonlinearity feature can be shown in an intuitive manner.

The Line laser gear measuring center (LLGMC) is an innovative gear measurement equipment that offers high efficiency but low accuracy. One crucial factor that influences its measurement accuracy is the presence of geometric errors. In this study, we conducted a thorough analysis of these geometric errors and proposed a method for modeling spatial errors. Instead of directly considering the geometric errors, we replaced them with the installation errors of the gear and line laser probe. This approach simplifies and improves the error transmission relationship. Subsequently, the installation errors are converted into a unified representation of the height error of the incident light from the line laser. A spatial error model that considers nine installation errors is then further established. By numerically calculating the sensitivity of different error sources, we effectively identified the errors that have a significant impact on the accuracy of LLGMC. Moreover, accuracy distribution is carried out to ensure that LLGMC can meet the measurement accuracy requirements for gears with a tolerance class of 6. This article provides a theoretical foundation for the structural design and accuracy assurance of LLGMC during the research and development phase.