In this paper, a dynamic wear model to predict wear volume in a mechanism, involving aleatory and epistemic uncertainty, is established. In this case, harmonic drives are applied to alleviate the impact of clearance for wear of the mechanism. The contact model of a mechanism with clearance that is subjected to harmonic drive is established, with the nonlinear spring-damp model and flexibility of harmonic gear considered. Especially, a slider-crank mechanism with clearance is simulated. The result shows that the cushioning effect of collisions for clearance with application of harmonic drive is superior to that through the flexibility of mechanical parts. Following confidence region method (CRM) for quantification of aleatory and epistemic uncertainty is proposed to analyze the effect of parameter uncertainty for wear volume during the entire time domain, and double-loop Monte Carlo sampling (MCS) approach is improved to propagate uncertainties during the entire time domain. Finally, based on Kriging model, the CRM is used to analyze the effect of parameter uncertainty for wear volume. The result shows that, when both aleatory and epistemic uncertainties are considered, the wear volume boundary is wider and better than that when only aleatory uncertainty is considered. These analyses help to improve the reliability design of system and set a theoretical foundation for the mechanic design and precision analysis of the mechanical system.

A method for trajectory tracking accuracy analysis of a two-link flexible manipulator with lubricated revolute joint involving interval uncertainty is presented. In this method, first, fuzzy self-tuning proportion integration differentiation (PID) control is applied to track the desired tip trajectory of the manipulator. The absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) is employed for the finite element discretization of the flexible manipulator. And lubricated revolute joint is modeled based on the infinitely short journal bearing with Gümbel conditions. Second, uncertainty of clearance size is considered, and interval analysis method is applied. Numerical simulation is posted to investigate the cushioning effect of lubricants on the clearance and influence of uncertainty on control accuracy of the manipulator. The results show that the lubricants can improve the stability of motion and operation precision of the manipulator; however, uncertainty of the manipulator may reduce the control accuracy of the manipulator.

A computational methodology to model and analyze planar rigid mechanical system with stick–slip friction in revolute clearance joint is presented. In this work, the LuGre friction model, which captures the Stribeck effect and spring-like characteristics for stiction, is employed to estimate the stick–slip friction in revolute clearance joint. A hybrid contact force model, combining Lankarani–Nikravesh model, and improved elastic foundation model, is used to establish contact model. The generalized-α method, which can dissipate the spurious high-frequency responses caused by the strongly nonlinear contact force and friction in numerical simulation, is adopted to solve the equations of motion and make the result closer to the physics of the problem. A slider-crank mechanism with revolute clearance joint based on LuGre friction model and modified coulomb friction model are simulated, respectively, and utilized to discuss the influences of the Stribeck effect and stiction on dynamic behavior of the mechanism. Different test scenarios are considered to investigate the effects of the clearance size and friction coefficient on the dynamic response of the mechanism. The results show that the mechanism based on LuGre friction model has better energy dissipation characteristics, while there are stiction phenomena of the contacting surfaces in many cases. When the relative velocity is zero or close to zero, the contact force of mechanism based on the LuGre friction model is significantly lower than that based on the modified coulomb friction model. Clearance size and friction coefficient obviously affect dynamic behavior of the mechanism.