Parametric modeling and design synthesis for electromechanical actuators

Mechanical systems are becoming increasingly complex, containing hundreds of design parameters where the imperative is to increase performance while reducing costs. To meet these demands will require a paradigm shift away from trial and error procedures for monolithic structures and one-off designs towards an open architecture where global technology diffusion and systems on demand can become the accepted basis for significant economic return on investment. To achieve this goal, the design process must be more completely understood for the designer to handle increasingly complex systems in a manner that improves design. It is the goal of this work to convey the need for improved design science and to lay a foundation for the design of electromechanical actuators using fundamental principles and parametric formulations. Overall, this research provides the electromechanical actuator designer with a framework and some initial tools to aid in the design synthesis process with the ultimate goal of improving actuator design. This entails the development of a step by step process beginning with the selection of the actuator architecture based on specified design priorities. This is followed by the development of a parametric model of the chosen actuator configuration based on the design priorities and including the most important design parameters. Given this model, a method for extracting useful information in the form of design tradeoffs is developed. This work uses a method called algebraic reduction to manipulate the parametric model and gain design insights. An example demonstrating this design synthesis framework is given and includes the application of algebraic reduction to polynomial systems.Mechanical Engineerin