This paper explores strategies for static balancing of several flexure types. First, it describes a method for determining the load-dependent stiffness behavior of compliant flexures. Load-dependent stiffness means that the stiffness changes when a flexure is subjected to force loads perpendicular to its axis of rotation. A set of non-dimensional parameters is selected to describe the loads and the resulting stiffness. Finite element models of each joint are developed, and stiffness data is gathered for a range of horizontal and vertical loading regimes. The method is verified by comparing results to an analytic model for joints where such is available, and to results in the literature. The load-dependent stiffness behavior is then examined to identify new strategies for static balancing that have not yet appeared in the literature.
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