Colloquia

Summary

In kinematic couplings, contact friction leads to uncertainty in the contact reaction force balance, resulting in unknown Hertzian deformation and consequently in nested position. A model is created to predict all valid nested positions for a two-dimensional kinematic coupling, using the friction coefficient as simplification for all friction behavior. A suitable experimental setup is created, allowing control of the order in which the three contacts engage. Each of these contact sequences led to distinctly different and repeatable nested positions, confirming the importance of sequence control during coupling engagement. The spread of the measured nested positions with different contact sequences does not contradict the model prediction, but is insufficient for a strong claim on model validity. This is partly due to limited calibration quality, as well the influence of unmodeled effects on the measurement data.