Creative Combination Modeling and Simulation of Planar Linkage Mechanisms Based on SolidWorks

Abstract

Planar linkage mechanisms are the most fundamental and widely applied transmission mechanisms in the mechanical field, whose kinematic characteristics directly determine the operational performance of mechanical equipment. Aiming at the poor effect of experimental teaching caused by wear and part loss of physical models in the Mechanical Principle Laboratory of universities, this paper takes the typical planar linkage mechanisms and creative composite mechanisms in the laboratory as the research objects, and conducts research on virtual modeling and motion simulation by using SolidWorks software and its Motion plug-in. Through mapping the dimensions of physical mechanisms in the laboratory, three-dimensional modeling and virtual assembly of eight types of planar linkage mechanisms (including gear-driven double rocker mechanism and crank-rocker double parallelogram composite mechanism) were completed. Kinematic and dynamic data such as angular velocity, angular acceleration and linear velocity of the components were obtained via simulation analysis. The simulation results show that the motion laws of the virtual mechanisms are completely consistent with those of the physical ones, and the variation laws of motion parameters that cannot be observed in physical experiments can be presented quantitatively. This research provides a virtual simulation solution for solving the problem of insufficient mechanical experimental teaching equipment in universities, and also offers a basic method for the design and performance analysis of complex linkage mechanisms.