The Multiobjective Optimization of a Prismatic Drive

TL;DR

This paper presents a multiobjective optimization approach for Slide-o-Cam, a cam mechanism with multiple rollers, aiming to optimize pressure angle, contact stresses, and size to improve performance and reduce friction.

Contribution

It introduces a Pareto optimization framework for Slide-o-Cam considering multiple objectives, which is a novel approach for this mechanism.

Findings

Pareto frontiers obtained for the multiobjective optimization.

Optimized designs show reduced pressure angles and contact stresses.

Mechanism size can be effectively minimized while maintaining performance.

Abstract

The multiobjective optimization of Slide-o-Cam is reported in this paper. Slide-o-Cam is a cam mechanism with multiple rollers mounted on a common translating follower. This transmission provides pure-rolling motion, thereby reducing the friction of rack-and-pinions and linear drives. A Pareto frontier is obtained by means of multiobjective optimization. This optimization is based on three objective functions: (i) the pressure angle, which is a suitable performance index for the transmission because it determines the amount of force transmitted to the load vs. that transmitted to the machine frame; (ii) the Hertz pressure used to evaluate the stresses produced on the contact surface between cam and roller; and (iii) the size of the mechanism, characterized by the number of cams and their width.