Experimental Characterization of a T-Shaped Programmable Multistable Mechanism

Programmable multistable mechanisms (PMM) exhibit a modifiable stability behavior in which the number of stable states, stiffness, and reaction force characteristics are controlled via their programming inputs. In this paper, we present experimental characterization for the concept of stability programing introduced in our previous work (Zanaty et al., 2018, "Programmable Multistable Mechanisms: Synthesis and Modeling," ASME J. Mech. Des., 140(4), p. 042301.) A prototype of the T-combined axially loaded double parallelogram mechanisms (DPM) with rectangular hinges is manufactured using electrodischarge machining (EDM). An analytical model based on Euler-Bernoulli equations of the T-mechanism is derived from which the stability behavior is extracted. Numerical simulations and experimental measurements are conducted on programming the mechanism as monostable, bistable, tristable, and quadrastable, and show good agreement with our analytical derivations within 10%.