Large-stroke flexure hinges: Building-block-based spatial topology synthesis method for maximising flexure performance over their entire range of motion

Large-stroke flexure hinges inherently lose support stiffness when deflected, due to load components in compliant bending and torsion directions. To maximise performance over the entire range of motion, a topology optimisation suited to large-stroke flexure hinges has been developed to obtain an optimised design tuned for a specific application. This method was applied to two test cases, which has resulted in two hinge designs of unmatched performance with respect to the customary three-flexure cross hinge.