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3. Velocity Analysis of Linkages

Velocities and accelerations in mechanisms are
determined by different methods.
i. Velocity and acceleration analysis using vector mathematics
velocity and acceleration of a point are expressed relative to fixed
or moving coordinates.
ii. Velocity and acceleration analysis using equations of relative
motion
Can be solved graphically by velocity and acceleration polygons
or by using trigonometric relations.
iii. Velocity and acceleration analysis by using complex
numbers.
iv. Vectors velocity analysis using the instant center method.

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3.1. Velocity Analysis by Vector Mathematics
Consider the motion of point P moving with respect to the x- y- z
coordinate system, which in turn, moves relative to the X-Y-Z
coordinate system as shown.












- is the position vector of P relative to the X-Y-Z system.
- is the position vector of P relative to the x-y-z system
- is the position vector of the origin of the moving coordinate
system x-y-z relative to the fixed coordinate system X-Y-Z.



p
R

o
R

3
The position vector of P relative to the X-Y-Z system R
p
is expressed
as:

(3.1)

Introducing unit vectors i, j, and k along the x, y, and z axes
respectively,

= xi + yj + zk (3.2)

Velocity of P relative to the X-Y-Z coordinate system is

(3.3)

- is the velocity of the origin of x-y-z system relative to the
fixed system


(3.4)


R R R V
o p p

+ = =
o o
V R

=
( )
) ( ) ( k z j y i x k z j y i x
zk yj xi
dt
d
R

+ + + + + =
+ + =
R R R
o p

+ =
R

4
Let
(3.5)

note that


(3.6)

Where e is the angular velocity vector of x-y-z system relative to X-Y-
Z.


(3.7)


- Thus the velocity of P relative to the moving coordinate system is

(3.8)
V k z j y i x = + +
k k
j j
i i
=
=
=
e
e
e

R
zk yj xi
k z j y i x k z j y i x

=
+ + =
+ + = + +
e
e
e e e
) (
) ( ) ( ) (
R V R

+ = e
5
the velocity of point P relative to the fixed system is:




= velocity of the origin of the x-y-z system relative to the X-Y-
Z system
= velocity of point p relative to x-y-z system
e = angular velocity of the x-y-z system relative to X-Y-Z system
= position vector of P with respect to the origin of the x-y-z
system
) 9 . 3 ( R V V V
o p

+ + = e
o
V

6
3.2. Velocity analysis by using equation of relative
motion
3.2.1. Velocity of points on a common link
A and B are two points on a common rigid link AB as shown.
The points are moving with velocities V
A
and V
B
respectively.
Using the equation of relative motion, velocity of one point can be
determined relative to the other.






V
A
= V
B
+ V
A/B
(3.10)

Where V
A/B
= velocity of A relative to B
All absolute velocity vectors originate from the same point O
2
.
Note that the velocity of A relative to B and the velocity of B relative
to A are equal in magnitude, collinear and opposite in direction, i.e.
V
A/B
= -V
B/A
(3.11)

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3.2.2. Velocity of a block sliding on a rotating link
- As shown in the figure block A slides on the rotating link O
2
B.
- The angular velocity e of the link and the velocity of the block are
assumed to be known.






- Let A be a point on the link coincident with the block A for the instant
represented.
- The velocity of A relative to O
2
is perpendicular to O
2
B at A.
- The velocity of A relative to A is along the link parallel to O
2
A
- V
A
= V
A
+ V
A/A
(3.12)
- Relative velocity of coincident particles on separate links is effected
by physical constraints such as guides.
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3.2.3. Relative velocity of coincident particles at the point
of rolling element
- Rolling contact exists when there is no sliding at the contact point b/n
two links.
The velocity component along the tangential direction must be zero.
- For pure rolling contact of links 2 and 3, the point P
2
on link 2 and P
3

on link 3 have the same velocities i.e.
V
P2
= V
P3

Let a point P be common to the links 2 & 3,
which have relative motion to each other.
The relative velocity equation may be written:
V
P3
= V
P2
+ V
P3/P2
(3.13)

- The condition for pure rolling is that:
V
P3/P2
= 0 (3.14)



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This condition is met when the point of contact lies on the line of
center O
2
O
3
.
If V
P3/P2
0, its direction would be along the tangent t - t.
link 3 would slide relative to link 2 along the t t direction.

Rolling of circles or cylinders is a special case of rolling motion.
For pure rolling:





) 15 . 3 (
2
3
3
2
r
r
=
e
e
10
3.2.4 . Relative velocity of crank and connecting rod
Let e
2
be the angular velocity of the crank O
2
A.
Velocity of B can be determined using the velocity of point A as the
reference which can easily be determined.







V
B
= V
A
+ V
B/A
(3.16)

Where
V
A
is known both in magnitude and direction;
V
B
is known in direction, magnitude is unknown;
V
B/A
is known in direction, magnitude is unknown.
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3.2.5. Algebraic solution of the slider-Crank mechanism
Taking the origin of the coordinate system at the crank center, the
position of the slider is defined by x.

(3.17)

and

(3.18)

Where r is the crank radius
l is length of connecting rod
From the position of the mechanism it can be noted that



| u sin sin l r =
| u cos cos l r x + =
) 19 . 3 ( ) sin ( 1
) sin (
cos
2
2 2
u
u
|
l
r
l
r l
=

=
12
Substituting for cos| in equation (3.18), the position of the slider is
obtained to be:

(3.20)

Alternatively, equation (3.20) can be obtained from the law of cosines
given by


and by solving quadratic equation for x.
Differentiating equation (3.17)


(3.21)


2
) sin ( 1 cos u u
l
r
l r x + =
u cos 2
2 2 2
rx x r l + =
dt
d
l
r
dt
d
dt
d
l
r
dt
d
u
|
u |
u u |
|
cos
cos
cos
cos
=
=
13
Differentiating equation (3.18) with respect to time:

(3.22)

Substituting for d|/dt from equation (3.21), the velocity of the slider is:




(3.23)


For small values of r/l, which usually is the case in slider crank
mechanism,

and the velocity is

(3.24)
dt
d
l
dt
d
r x
|
|
u
u sin sin =

|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
= =
2
) sin ( 1
cos sin
sin
)
cos
cos sin
(sin
u
u u
u e
|
u u
u e
l
r
l
r
r V
l
r
l
l r x V
0 sin ~ u
l
r
)
2
2 sin
(sin
l
r
r V
u
u e + =
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3.3. Velocity Analysis by Complex Numbers
Most of the systems of analysis using complex polar notation are
based on the following fundamental law:
If the elements of a mechanism are replaced by position vectors
such that their sum is zero, then their time derivatives are also
equal to zero.
This law means that if one takes any linkage or mechanism and
replaces the members of the mechanism by vectors such that their
sum is zero, then the sum of the velocity vectors is zero, so also the
sum of the acceleration vectors.
Considering the slider crank shown:
Link 2 is the driver (crank) and has
a constant angular velocity e
2
& for
the instant under consideration an
angular position of u
2
.
Dimensions of linkages are assumed
to be known, so the angular position
of the follower, link 4, can be obtained.
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Replacing each link by a vector such that the position polygon closes
as shown in figure (b), a mathematical expression for the summation
law can be written as:


Where R
1
= vector for the ground link
R
2
= vector for the crank
R
4
= vector to determine the position of link 3. Note that the
magnitude of R
4
is variable.
The position of a particle on a link represented by a vector R
p
as
shown below may be expressed in any of the following equivalent
forms:



Using this complex representation, equation (3.25) is transformed into



) 25 . 3 ( 0
4 2 1
= + R R R
( )
2
) 26 . 3 ( sin cos
2 2
u
u u
i
p p
p p
p
e r R
i r R
ib a R
=
+ =
+ =
) 27 . 3 ( 0
4 2 1
4 2 1
= +
u u u i i i
e r e r e r
16
Differentiating the above equation we obtain


Note that r
1
and u
1
are constants and r
4
is variable.
Let


Separating equation (3.29) into real and imaginary terms:



The unknown quantities in the above pair of equations are e
4
and
solving for these unknown variables:



) 28 . 3 ( 0
4 4 2
4 4 4 2 2
=
u u u
u u
i i i
e r e ir e ir


i i
e u =

) 29 . 3 ( 0
4 4 2
4 4 4 2 2
=
u u u
e e
i i i
e r e ir e ir
) 30 . 3 ( 0 sin cos sin
0 cos sin cos
4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2
4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2
= +
=
u e u u e
u e u u e
r r r
r r r

4
r

) 31 . 3 ( ) cos(
) sin(
2 4
4
2 2
4
2 4 2 2 4
u u
e
e
u u e
=
=
r
r
r r
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3.4. Analysis of Velocity Vectors by Instant-Center
Method.
Consider bodies 2 and 3 which move relative to each other.
Point A on a body 2 has a velocity V
A2/A3
relative to point A on body
3 and point B on 3 has velocity V
B3/B2
relative to point B on body 2.
Perpendiculars to both velocities intersect at point P which is the
instantaneous center of rotation of body 2 relative to 3 or vise versa.
Point P may be considered as a point on body 2 about which body 3
is instantaneously rotating or vise versa.
V
P2/P3
= V
P3/P2
= 0
An instantaneous center of rotation is
defined as a point common to two links
which has the same velocity in each link;
It is a point at which the two bodies
have no relative velocity.
It is also a point on one link about
which another link is instantaneously
rotating.
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3.4.1 Types of Instantaneous centers
The instantaneous centers of a mechanism are of three types:
1. Fixed instantaneous centers: these instantaneous centers (I.C.) remain
fixed for all configurations of the mechanism.
2. Permanent instantaneous centers: these instantaneous centers move
with the mechanism but joints are of permanent nature.
3. Neither fixed nor permanent instantaneous centers: these instantaneous
centers vary with the configuration of the mechanism.
In the four bar linkage shown, points O
2
, O
4
, A and B are the obvious I.C.
O
2
and O
4
are fixed I. C;
A and B are Permanent I. C.
In the four bar mechanism there
is one I.C. for each pair of links.
In general for n links in a mechanism:

Number of I. C. =

2
) 1 ( n n
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3.4.2 The Arnhold- Kennedy Theorem of Three Centers
Since an instantaneous center is a point common to two links, it is
usually denoted by the number of links.
For the four-bar linkage shown centers 12, 23, 34, and 14 are
located by inspection.
The instantaneous center of the perpendiculars to the velocities of
points A and B yield the instantaneous center 13.
To locate the center 24, the ArnholdKennedy theorem is applied.
The theorem states that:



When three bodies move to
one another they have three
instantaneous centers, all of
which lie on the same straight
line.
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For links 1, 2, and 4 the instantaneous centers 12, 24, and 14
should lie on a straight line. Similarly, for links 2, 3, and 4 centers
23, 34, and 24 should lie on another straight line, where 24,
common to both lines, is located at the intersection of these lines.
In general, to determine the instantaneous centers for the four bar
linkage we could proceed as follows.
For each combination of 3 links the known and unknown
instantaneous centers should lie on a straight line.
Intersection of such line that contain instantaneous centers give the
unknown instantaneous center.
Table. 3.1



Link
Instantaneous Centers
Known Unknown
1, 2, 3 12, 23 13
1, 2, 4 12, 14 24
1, 3, 4 34, 14 13
2, 3, 4 23, 34 24
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3.4.3 Determination of Velocity using the line-of-centers
method.
The line of centers method can be summarized as follows
Step 1- Identify the link containing a point whose velocity
is known, the link containing the point whose velocity is to
be determined and a reference link, usually the ground or
the frame.
Step 2- Locate the three instantaneous centers defined by the
three links and draw the line of centers.
Step 3- Consider the common instantaneous center as a point on
the link which contains the point whose velocity is known
and by using similar triangles find the velocity of the
common instantaneous center.
Step 4- next consider the common instantaneous center as a
point on the link which contains the point whose velocity is
unknown. From similar triangles determine the velocity of
the point.
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