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Mechanics Corner

A Journal of Applied Mechanics and Mathematics by DrD, # 3


c Machinery Dynamics Research, LLC, 2015

Vector Loop Kinematics –Part I


Position Analysis

1 Introduction

Many years ago, when I …rst began to study mechanics, the "conventional wisdom," expressed by
both teachers and fellow students, was this: "Statics is easy, Dynamics is hard, and Kinematics –
who bothers to actually study kinematics? Kinematic relations, when needed, simply drop from
the sky like rain, but nobody seriously studies kinematics." I eventually found the truth to be a bit
more subtle: Statics of structures is generally easy, while the statics of mechanisms and machines
may, or may not, be easy, depending a lot on the kinematics. Further, I found that the key to most
dynamics problems is having a good tool to deal with the necessary kinematics.
The purpose for this article is to present the most powerful tool I have ever found for dealing with
mechanism and machine kinematics, the vector loop method. This will be demonstrated in the
context of two simple problems.

2 Crank–Lever Reciprocating Drive

Consider the simple mechanism shown in Figure 1 which I will call the Crank–Lever Reciprocating
Drive. As the crank turns, angle starting at zero and increasing, the slotted lever at …rst moves
upward, pivoting about the left end. The overall e¤ect is that the lever oscillates up and down as
the crank rotates. Nothing very complex or elegant here, but exactly how do we describe it?
The …xed dimensions C; L, and R are all assumed to be known, and the crank angle is assigned to
any value we choose (all possible values must be considered). But how do we …nd the angle A ( ),
the distance B ( ), and the elevation Y ( ), for all possible values of ? That is the main concern
at the moment.
The red triangle exists for all possible con…gurations. It changes shape as varies, but it is always
closed. The triangle may be thought of as as consisting of three vectors along the three sides of
the triangle, expressing the simple vector addition, C + R = B. The constant closure of the vector
loop, whether it be a triangle or some other polygon, is the essence of the vector loop method for
position analysis. How is this implemented?

1
L

B(θ)
Y(θ)
θ R
A(θ)
C
Figure 1 Crank-Lever Drive

Consider the vector equation written out in horizontal and vertical components, thus:

C + R cos = B ( ) cos [A ( )] (1)


R sin = B ( ) sin [A ( )] (2)

These are called the position loop equations. The value of both A ( ) and B ( ) can be determined
from them. Taking a ratio gives

R sin
A = arctan (3)
C + R cos

and then

C + R cos R sin
B= or B= (4)
cos A sin A
The two expressions for B are equally valid in most instances, but there are places where sin A goes
to zero, and other places where cos A goes to zero. In those instances, it is important to chose the
proper expression for B.
We were also interested in the elevation, Y ( ). This variable did not appear in the vector loop
equations, and thus cannot be determined from their solution. It can, however, easily be written
now:

Y = L sin A (5)

Look back at the process: it consists of two primary steps. (1) Write the horizontal and vertical
loop equations, and (2) solve the loop equations for the unknown kinematic variables. It is just
that simple! There are a couple of things to note, however.

1. The solution process was simple in this case, but there will be other, more complicated, cases
where a closed form solution cannot be e¤ected. In those cases, a numerical solution by the
Newton–Raphson process is required.

2
2. The expression for the …rst variable found is NOT SUBSTITUTED into the expression for
the second variable. Rather, the numerical value is substituted. Why? Because algebraic
substitution usually leads to longer and longer, complicated expressions that are not easily
understood and are di¢ cult to program correctly. The short expressions are easily pro-
grammed for the computer.

Figure 2 Crank–Lever Mechanism Displacements in Normalized Form: A ( ) - semi-sinusoidal


curve; B ( ) - symmetric, always positive curve, where + .

Just to illustrate the process, a computer code has been written to evaluate these solutions. The
parameters used in the computer code are R = 30 mm; C = 140 mm; and L = 198 mm. When
the solutions are evaluate over the interval + , the normalized plots are as shown in
Figure 2. The normalizing factors are max jAj = 0:2159958 rad. and max B = 170 mm. If the
function Y ( ) is also plotted in normalized form, it is indistinguishable with the naked eye from
the function A ( ). The two functions do in fact di¤er, but only very slightly! The maximum value
of the elevation is YM ax = 42:427671 mm.

3 O¤set Slider–Crank Mechanism

As a second example of this method, now applied to a system of much more common interest,
consider the o¤set slider–crank mechanism shown in Figure 2. The essential dimensions of the
mechanism are: R = crank radius, L = connecting rod length, and e = slider o¤set (this last is
often zero). The crank angle, , is considered as the input variable, and it is required to …nd the
slider position, x ( ), and the connecting rod obliquity angle, ( ). The point P is any point of
interest along the connecting rod length (typically this might be the connecting rod CM location),
and we are also interested in the path of point P .
The position vector loop equations are these:

R cos + L cos x = 0 (6)


R sin L sin e = 0 (7)

3
Crank
P
Y up Connecting Rod
L
R φ
yp
θ e
X
xp Slider
x
Figure 3 O¤set Slider–Crank Mechanism.

where the unknowns are and x. The second equation gives an expression for thus:

R sin e
= arcsin (8)
L

With known, it is easy to determine x from the …rst equation:

x = R cos + L cos (9)

Note that, as before, there is simply no point to substituting the expression for into the expression
for x; numerical value substitution is far better. This completes the primary position analysis, but
there is still the question of point P:
The coordinates of point P may be written directly now that the values of and x are known. It is
simply a matter of starting at the origin, and "walking to point P ," keeping track of the distance
in both coordinates. This gives

xp = R cos + up cos (10)


yp = R sin up sin (11)

.
To illustrate this solution, calculations have been made for a system having the following parame-
ters: R = 55 mm, L = 180 mm, and e = 40 mm. Normalized plots for ( ) and x ( ) are presented
in Figure 4.
In Figure 4, it should be clear that the upper curve, always positive, is x ( ) (in normalized form)
while the lower curve is ( ) (again in normalized form). The function ( ) is negative at = 0
because of the o¤set. While it is less visible, the maximum point on the x ( ) is a bit to the right of
= 0, again because of the o¤set. If the o¤set were removed, the maximum point on x ( ) would
occur at = 0 and again at = 2 ; further, the ( ) curve would be shifted upwards, such that
(0) = ( ) = (2 ) = 0.

4
Figure 4 Normalized Plots for A ( ) and x ( ) Plotted over the Range 0 2 .

One of the matters most di¢ cult for visualization is the path of the connecting rod. It is obvious
that the crank end travels in a circle (with the crank pin), and the slider end travels in a straight
line (with the slider), but what happens at points in between the ends?

Figure 5 Muliple Positions of the Slider-Crank with the Trajectories of the Connecting Rod
Quarter Points Shown Also.

In Figure 5, the red oval is the path of the point located by up = L=4; the green oval is the path of
the point at up = L=2; and the highly elongated cyan oval is the path of the point at xp = 3L=4.
This completes the discussion of position analysis by the vector loop method. It should be remem-
bered that closed form solutions for the position equations are fairly rare; numerical solution is far
more the rule. Even with numerical solutions, the process is exactly the same as described here.
The matters of velocity analysis and acceleration analysis will be taken up in future articles. Be
sure to check back for them!
DrD is a retired Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the USA. He can be reached for comments,
questions, or requests at his consulting organization, Machinery Dynamics Research, LLC by e-mail
at DrD@MachineryDynamicsResearch.com. Be sure to check back soon at www.http://mechanical-
engineering.in/forum/blog/206-mechanics-corner/ for more articles.

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