Novel Design of Variable Stiffness Pneumatic Flexible Shaft Coupling: Determining the Mathematical-Physical Model and Potential Benefits

Presently, mechanical system vibroisolation is becoming increasingly important. One of the new approaches is semi-active vibroisolation using elements capable of changing a selected mechanical property. These include, among others, pneumatic flexible shaft couplings capable of changing torsional stiffness during operation. The main goal of the article is to examine the potential advantages of a newly patented pneumatic coupling over a current type with the same pneumatic element arrangement. For comparison, parameters determinable from static load characteristics were selected. These parameters are maximum twist angle and torque, average torsional stiffness, and the percentage of torque transmitted by the bellows rubber shell. In all cases, the new coupling had better properties. Since the prototype of the new coupling has not yet been produced, its parameters were determined from its mathematical-physical model. The article contains a full procedure to obtain the static load characteristic of a new coupling type, beginning with the determination of air bellows force/height and volume/height characteristics, then optimum sizes of coupling with regards to the operating range of elements, the dependency of element height on the coupling’s twist angle, and finally the computation of the static load characteristic considering isothermal gas compression. The presented procedure can be applied to any pneumatic bellows where the force/height characteristics of different pressures are given.