ME4291: Finite Element Analysis

FEA of Gripper Blade

1) Introduction
Robot grippers are end effectors in robotic arm systems. They function as the hand of the robotic system
mainly to transport objects in a given system. The position and orientation of the robot gripper is
controlled by the robotic arm, and depending on the intended operation of either gripping the target
object or releasing it.

Figure 1. A typical robot gripper with four gripper blades.

2) Objectives
In this assignment, you are tasked to evaluate the gripping capacity of the gripper blades, which are the
links that contact the objects to be transported. Figure 2 shows the CAD model of the blade
(“Gripper_blade.sldprt”) with some of the key dimensions given (in mm).

Figure 2. CAD model of the gripper blade to be analyzed.

Below are some of the technical information of the gripper blade:

(i) It is used in a four gripper blades gripper assembly (such as the one shown in Fig. 1) that is
expected to share the load equally. The contact face can be assumed to be in full contact when it
grips onto the object, such that the contact pressure is uniform over the surface.
(ii) It is supposed to carry an object in which the frictional coefficient at the contact interface is within
the range of 0.1 ≤ 𝜇𝑠 ≤ 0.2.
(iii) It is made of aluminum alloy 6061-T6, which has the following material properties: 𝐸 = 69 𝐺𝑃𝑎,
𝜈 = 0.33, 𝜌 = 2700 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3, and 𝜎𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 = 275 𝑀𝑃𝑎.

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(iv) At maximum load, the stress level of the blade must be less than the maximum allowable stress,
which is its yield strength factored by a safety factor of 2.0.
(v) At maximum load, blade must also not deform excessively. For this specification, the tip of the
blade should not displace by more than 1mm, when it is fixed at the two pivot holes.

3) FEA Tasks
First, download the SOLIDWORK CAD model, “Gripper_blade.sldprt” from the Canvas. You are
required to conduct two static stress analyses to determine the maximum weigh of the object that this
gripper blade design can carry. There are two important design specifications that need to be evaluated,
as given in point (iv) and (v) in the previous section.
The boundary and loading conditions for the first static analysis is given in Fig. 3. Basically, the two
pivot holes are fixed (fixed hinge), and a uniform force is applied at the contact face of the blade. Notice
that the constraints are symmetry about a mid-plane that divides the gripper blade into equal halves.
Exploit this symmetricity to reduce the FE model. The stress distribution and the displacement at the
tip of the blade are the two main results to be analyzed in this study.

Use “fixed hinge” to

constraint the two
pivot holes.

Observe the displacement

of blade tip.

Figure 3. Boundary and loading conditions on the blade for first static analysis.

Note that we are only solving linear problems here. Hence, the solutions can be scaled from one
representative case. In other words, if 1 N force gives maximum stress and tip-displacement of 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥
and 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 , then 10 N force is expected to give 10 times 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 and 𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 , respectively.

Perform the first analysis with the default mesh density using the blended curvature-based mesh method.
From this preliminary study, you should be able to identify the high stress regions, and displacement at
the tip of the blade, such as the one shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 4. Typical stress and displacement results from the static analysis.

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However, the results for this first case may not be accurate enough. Hence, do you due diligence to
experiment with different meshes, e.g. using “Split lines” and “Mesh Control” to create more elements
in the high stress regions. Once you are satisfied with the simulation results, use them to calculate the
maximum payload that this blade can carry. Remember to take into considerations the various factors,
e.g. safety factor, frictional coefficient, 1/4 symmetry load sharing, in your calculations.

In the second static analysis, a bearing load with parabolic profile is to be applied onto the top pivot
hole, and it is directed 45o downwards from the horizontal axis. The other pivot hole remains as “Fixed
hinge”, while the contact face is assumed to be a “Roller/Slider” constraint. This scenario simulates the
actual gripping operation where an actuating force is applied to provide the torque, which in turns
produces the gripping force. Figure 5 depicts the boundary and loading conditions for this case.

Figure 5. Boundary and loading conditions on the blade for second static analysis.

Bearing load is used to simulate a more realistic pressure loading on a circular hole when a force is
applied on it. As shown in Fig. 5, only the bottom half of surface of the hole will experience pressure
loading (with parabolic or sinusoidal distribution), while the top half is expected to be load-free. But in
order to apply the bearing load, you need to create a coordinate system that coincides with the
cylindrical face of the pivot hole, i.e., the z-axis must be along the axis of the cylindrical hole.

Figure 6. Creating coordinate system via Reference Geometry tools.

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To create this coordinate system, go to the Features tab, and under the Reference Geometry tool, do
the following steps:
- First, create two points at the centre of the circles, then
- create an axis that joins the two points, and finally
- create the coordinate system with the point created at the top circle. By default, the new coordinate
will be aligned with the global coordinate system. To rotate x- or y- axis of this coordinate system in
the direction of the bearing load, let the axis created above be either the x- or y- axis. Do not modify the
z-axis, which should be along the axis of the cylindrical surface.

Note that these features will appear in the feature tree once they
are created. Hence, you can pick them from the feature tree
directly, instead of from the model (which sometimes may be
difficult due to overlapping features). In general, whenever there
is a possible need for you to pick features from the model, the
feature tree will appear in the graphic area.

Now when defining the bearing load, pick the cylindrical surface
and this coordinate system in the selection boxes at the Bearing
Load window. Make sure that the applied force is in the correct
direction, and remember to choose the parabolic distribution.
Use a representative load of 1 N.

Run the simulation, and then use the maximum stress to determine two important results, namely:
(i) The maximum allowable load that can be applied on the top pivot. This is essentially the
force that will cause some parts of the blade to reach the maximum allowable stress.
(ii) The gripping force at the contact face, which can be determined by listing the reaction force
on the face. Again, the reaction force has to be scaled up/down according to the stress ratio
calculated in (i).
With this, you are done with the FEA studies for this assignment. To summarize, you are required to
perform two different sets of static analyses, with different loading and boundary conditions. From the
two studies, you are then required to determine the maximum payload the gripper blade may be able to
carry. Comment and discuss on your findings.

4) Submission of the analysis report

You are required to submit a brief analysis report (about 3~4 pages) to clearly illustrate and discuss
your simulation results. The report should contain:
• An abstract that summarize your report
• A section to briefly discuss your FE models
• A section to discuss about your simulation results
• And finally a conclusion of this FEA.
See the appendix for a brief discussion on writing the FEA report.

Your report should be named as follows: student_number.pdf, and submit it into the appropriate Canvas
folder. For this assignment, the folders will be closed on 16th September, 23:59. Late submissions will
only be considered with valid reasons.

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Appendix: General guidelines to writing a FEA report

In this appendix, we will briefly discuss how to prepare a typical FEA report in a more structured
approach.

Abstract
This is an important section that summarizes the entire report to provide the readers a good overview
of the report. It should be about ½ a page, and contains:
i) A brief introduction to the problem, and the objective/s of the FEA project/assignment.
ii) The FEA studies done and their key findings. Remember to report the important results in this
study.

FEM model
This section aims to briefly describe the FEM models you are going to build, and what can be expected
from the analyses. Basically, you should concisely describe all the essential information pertaining to
creating the FEM model, including: analysis type, geometrical model, materials used, loads and
constraints. You may also want to discuss your meshing strategies, and the important results to be
observed in the studies. Use figures to help in your explanations.
In summary, the information provided here should be adequate for a FE analyst to conduct the FEA,
regardless of the FEA software he is using. State also the assumptions used in your analysis, if any.

FEA results and discussions

This section presents and discusses the simulation results. They may include the displacement and
stress results from the FEA, and other results that were calculated from them. Note that you should use
pictures adequately to illustrate your points more effectively (since pictures tell a thousand words). But
choose only a few of the more representative ones to be included and discussed in the main text of the
report. Avoid having a collection of FEA results in the appendix that were not even referred in the main
report.

Conclusion
This is another important section that summarizes the key findings in this report. Some of you might
think that conclusion and abstract are essentially the same. But they serve different purposes. Abstract
aims to give a good overview of the report to prepare the readers on what to expect from it, and it
includes a summary of the conclusion.
On the other hand, a good conclusion helps to summarize the key results, and it is the grand finale that
wrap up your report in high notes. More importantly, it must contain the key information that the project
was setup to find. For example, you may need to conclude whether a given design is structurally safe
to operate under specific conditions.

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