Verification of elastomer characteristics in electro-mechanical linear actuator

Abstract: Cascade Drives develops electromechanical actuators using a rack and pinion configuration to achieve a combination of high load and high-speed operation. A patented load distribution mechanism enables the use of multiple pinions on a single rack, resulting in a compact unit with high positional accuracy capable of absorbing shock loads. The key to the invention lies in the load distribution mechanism. This can be realized in several ways, using an elastically deformable element. These deformable elements could be subjected to large deformation without there being any internal energy dissipation and such materials are classified under hyperelastic material models. Experimentation of these rubber elements was conducted along with developing a mathematical and analytical model to investigate different geometry and material hardness. A MATLAB code using the Mooney-Rivlin equation was generated and ANSYS was utilized to produce the analytical model, these models were then verified with the experimental results. It is concluded from the results that, the material with medium hardness has the perfect match between the three models. Along with this, a method was investigated to analyze the behavior of rubber after it had been aged. The outcome of this method didn’t derive any conclusion.