Simulation and Experimentation of Multibody Mechanical Systems with Clearance Revolute Joints

Clearance in the joints of multibody mechanical systems such as linkage mechanisms and robots is a main source of vibration, and noise of the whole system, and wear of the joints themselves. This clearance is an inevitable matter and cannot be eliminated, since it allows the relative motion between joint components and make them assemblage. This paper presents an experimental verification of the obtained simulation results of a slider – crank mechanism of one clearance revolute joint. The simulation results are obtained with the aid of CAD and dynamic simulation softwares, which is an effective method of simulation multibody systems with clearance joints and have many advantages. The comparison between both simulation and experimental results shows that the simulation results are so close to the experimental ones which proves the accuracy and efficiency of this method of modeling and simulation of mechanical systems with clearance joints.