MECH 201: Compliant Mechanisms
Access the full course
Full course content (video lessons, exercises, downloadable files, and QR references) is part of Pro.
The preview above gives you the full course structure, learning outcomes, prerequisites, and what you will be able to do after completion. Free for everyone.
- ✓Video lessons with real 3D printing setups
- ✓Calibration parameters
- ✓Downloadable STL examples + gcode profiles
- ✓AI tutor for questions
- ✓Completion certificate
See Pro →
Compliant mechanisms are one of the strongest advantages of additive manufacturing – they enable single-part assemblies that are impossible with casting or machining. This course takes you from theory to a working prototype.
What you will learn
- Compliant mechanism principles and the pseudo-rigid-body model
- Living hinges – geometry, thickness, print orientation
- Flexures for precise linear and rotational motion
- Snap-locks with repeated closing without fatigue
- Bistable mechanisms – transitioning between two stable positions
- Stress analysis for polymer flexures
- Fatigue testing and cycles to failure
Course outline
- Lesson 1: What a compliant mechanism is and why AM makes it possible
- Lesson 2: Living hinges – PP, PE, PLA and TPU behaviour
- Lesson 3: Notch hinges and thin-section flexures
- Lesson 4: Linear flexures – parallel and double-parallel
- Lesson 5: Bistable structures and preload control
- Lesson 6: Print orientation and anisotropy in a flexure
- Lesson 7: Cyclic testing and failure analysis
Prerequisites
CAD skills at the level of course-cad101-fusion360 and a completed course-mech101-fasteners. A working understanding of stress and strain is desirable.
Outcome
You design single-part mechanisms with functional flexible elements, simulate them before printing and validate service life through cyclic testing.
Who it is for
Product engineers, designers of consumer packaging and closure mechanisms, and R&D specialists in medical and robotics applications.