TIME OPTIMAL TRANSFER FUNCTION OF A MECHANISM IN THE PRESENCE OF DISSIPATIVE FORCES

摘要

A variety of optimization problems in theoretical mechanics are related to the problem of finding the quickest operating mechanism among all possible mechanisms. Let us consider a mechanical system with one degree of freedom consisting of leading and lagging links with masses Ml and M2 respectively. Source of mechanical energy is attached to the leading link and its potential energy is known as a function of the position of the leading link. Positions of the leading - x and lagging links - y are related through the position function. Now the optimization problem can be formulated in the following way: find the position function such that the lagging link is transferred from initial to the final position in the shortest time. The analytic solution for this problem for the case when dissipative forces can be neglected was found using variational calculus method. In the case when dissipative forces can be described as viscous friction the problem can be solved using iterative methods. The differential equation that describes the stationary point of these iterations was obtained. The dependence of the optimal position function on the magnitude of friction is analyzed. In the case when dissipative forces are of the dry friction type the approach based on the variational calculus fails. We were able to find the optimal position function problem using Maximum Principle. New qualitative features of the solution arising due to dry friction are discussed. Approaches developed in this paper can be generalized for a variety of mechanisms where the operating time is critical.