Effective Teaching of Mechanism Synthesis using MechAnalyzer Software

Abstract

Mechanisms are found in every machine or system with relative motion between its components. Dimensional synthesis of a mechanism is the process of identifying the length of the linkages to obtain desired motion of the mechanism. A visualization software to determine the length of the linkages and show the motion of the resulting mechanism is desirable for effective teaching. In this paper, a new module in MechAnalyzer software is reported which aims to achieve the same. In its current form, it can perform synthesis of a four-bar mechanism for 2-positions and 3-positions and the resulting mechanism can be viewed and animated.