An incremental finite element analysis of mechanisms and robots

In this paper, we present an incremental finite element method of analysis of mechanisms/robots. Our method is based on the idea to decompose any large displacement of a mechanism or robot arm in a series of successive small displacements, so small that the linear finite element method can be applied in their analysis between two successive positions. Evidently, at the end of any small displacement, the position of a deformed member of the mechanism gives us the initial conditions for the following small displacement. After presentation of all the theoretical background of the method, we illustrate it by application to the crank-slider mechanism and to the four-bar-linkage mechanism.