Mechanism and Machine Theory 186 (2023) 105351

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Mechanism and Machine Theory

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mechmt

Research paper

Slenderness tuning to adjust and regulate constant force

mechanisms (STAR-CFM)
Zeeshan Qaiser a, b, Tanzeel ur Rehman c, Shane Johnson c, d, *
a
Department of Disaster Mitigation for Structures, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
b
International Joint Research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE), College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
c
University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, 800 Dongchuan Rd,
Shanghai 200240, China
d
State Key Laboratory of Mechanical Systems and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Rd, Shanghai 200240, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Force regulation and adjustment is a challenge in some applications because it requires sensor-
Constant force mechanism controller feedback loops resulting in high system complexity, low range of adjustability, and
Structural control poor compactness. The objective of this paper is structural control using slenderness tuning to
Semi-active control
adjust and regulate constant force mechanisms (STAR-CFM) in which the constant force (CF) is
Tunable Stiffness Mechanism
regulated passively and adjusted semi-actively. First, a FE parametric study of the baseline CFM
with structural imperfections is conducted. Second, a structural control strategy is implemented
to adjust the CF value by tuning slenderness using a structural tie. A detailed optimization is
conducted to provide the maximum change in the CF under the defined constraints. The proposed
methodology provides a CFM with a high energy similarity index, i.e., SCF>0.92. Our experi­
mental validation confirms the effectiveness of the proposed structural control approach,
achieving a significant adjustment range of the control force (CF) up to four times the baseline
value. The STAR-CFM provides a compact design compared to the literature designs with a non-
dimensional operational displacement of s = 0.45. The STAR-CFM advancements may minimize
the mechanical and control system complexity in many applications.

1. Introduction

Regulation and adjustment in the required force output are crucial for overload protection, precision manipulation, and adapt­
ability to handle different objects in many applications, e.g., aerospace [1–3], automotive [4], biomechanics [5], MEMS [6–8], medical
[9], robotics [10,11], and vibration control [12]. Rigid mechanisms with fast active control systems are commonly employed by
various researchers [13–15], but this strategy may not be suitable for force control in some applications because a large force error may
result from a small error in position or displacement, e.g., contacting hard or nearly rigid surfaces with displacement control may lead
to overloading and failure. Unlike rigid systems, a Series Elastic Actuator (SEA) contains a complaint spring in series with a mechanical
actuator. The controller parameters of SEA can be calculated directly by measuring the deflection of the compliant member using
Hooke’s law, i.e., F = kx [16]. Although the SEA-based force control strategies to maintain and adjust the CF are easy to implement, an
active actuation with close loop feedback is required, which may result in high power requirements. Alternatively, several studies have

* Corresponding author at: University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai 200240, China.
E-mail address: shane.johnson@sjtu.edu.cn (S. Johnson).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2023.105351
Received 15 December 2022; Received in revised form 28 February 2023; Accepted 5 April 2023
Available online 19 April 2023
0094-114X/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Qaiser et al. Mechanism and Machine Theory 186 (2023) 105351

Nomenclature

ACFM adjustable constant force mechanism

CF constant force
CFM constant force mechanism
FE finite element
GFRP glass fiber reinforced polymer
MDFS modified-depth first search
SEA series elastic actuator
A cross-sectional area
b section thickness
D bending stiffness matrix
d tie location
E youngs modulus
EI section stiffness
F force
G shear modulus
H length of mechanism
I moment of inertia
J polar moment of inertia
k stiffness
L/r slenderness ratio
M resultant bending moment vector per unit width
N resultant force per unit width
Px horizontal load applied to the mechanism
Q∗ transformed ply orthotropic elasticity stiffness matrix
S shear strength
SCF energy similarity index
s non-dimensional operational displacement
tp ply thickness
V height of mechanism
XT strength in fiber direction (tension)
XC strength in fiber direction (compression)
YT strength in transverse direction (tension)
YC strength in transverse direction (compression)
x displacement
z vertical position of individual ply
θ out-of-plumbness imperfection angle
ν poisson’s ratio
σy failure strength
np number of plies
Xs factor of safety
Uo energy stored in linearly elastic material
σf failure stress
ε0 laminate midplane strains
κ laminate mid-plane strains
xmin prelaod displacement
ζ non-dimensional percentage variation in the CF
δfailure failure displacement

been conducted to regulate the CF response passively with constant force mechanisms (CFMs) [17–23]. Adjusting the CF value,
however, still requires actuators and sensor-controlled feedback loops.
CFMs maintain CF by snap-through or buckling-based bifurcation. Snap-through buckling may cause a sudden reduction in the
structure’s load-bearing capacity, which may cause instability in the force output and catastrophic failure [24]. Therefore, this study
primarily focuses on buckling-based bifurcation.
Compliant mechanisms are mechanisms in which the force versus displacement is achieved from the deflection of elastic members
instead of assemblage of rigid members with multiple joints [25]. In the context of compliant mechanisms, mechanical control is
defined as a strategy to change the structural response of a partially compliant member by using mechanical adjustments [26–31],
including CAM [26], movable sliders [27], prestressing [28], revolute joints with springs [29], origami inspired, [32] , etc. These

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partially compliant solutions result in mechanically complex adjustment features, a large number of components, high friction,
backlash, wear, etc. Active mechanical control solutions also pose a risk of system damage if beyond the range of the CFM capacity. By
comparison, the structural control proposed in this research is based on a strategy to alter the CF system response directly by changing
slenderness, a structural parameter.
Structural control may replace mechanical-based control, but this strategy has not been shown in the previous literature apart from
trivial strategies, e.g., parallel configuration of springs. In traditional column buckling analysis, the elastic buckling loads are a
function of the slenderness ratio of the flexible member. The bifurcation state may be tuned by adjusting the effective slenderness of the
structure. Typically, the structural response of a beam may be tuned by changing the structural parameters, including stiffness, e.g., EA
/L, EI/Ln , GA/L, and GJ/L, slenderness, kL/r, geometrical parameters including out-of-straightness, out-of-plumbness, and the
combination of both, and material imperfections. Qaiser et al. [33,34] showed that stiffness and slenderness are related, and slen­
derness may be used to change the structural response of a beam. The change in slenderness may be achieved by effectively making the
members longer or shorter, and a potentially compact solution is to implement a structural tie that changes the load path effectively
tuning the slenderness of the mechanism. A mechanism with passive regulation and semi-active adjustment is required to eliminate the
need for complex feedback controllers. Furthermore, the fully compliant mechanism for CF regulation is desirable to minimize the
wear and backlash that is prevalent in partially compliant systems. There are many applications where the power requirements are
excessive if the active control systems are used, e.g., wearable robotics, seismic control of civil infrastructure, etc. The power re­
quirements may be minimized by utilizing the concept of structural control.
This research proposes structural passive and semi-active control in fully compliant mechanisms by slenderness tuning to adjust and
regulate constant force mechanisms (STAR-CFM). The sensitive structural parameter for bifurcation control is slenderness, which is tuned
in this manuscript by altering an internal condition or member interaction, using a structural tie.

2. Proposed slenderness tuning to adjust and regulate CFM

Stiffness and eccentricity are inversely proportional, and high stiffness is desirable to minimize the preload, which is related to low
eccentricity. However, a zero stiffness or CF environment is related to large and increasing eccentricity. Small eccentricity (a system
compact with all members close to the force line of action) is desirable in the undeformed configuration, and a parallel beam
arrangement is one of the ways to achieve it. Therefore, the selection of the baseline mechanism is conducted by using the following
approach:

(1) Several researchers used MDFS [35] to exploit the design space and identify the key features that are exhibited in these tortuous
paths.
(2) Different path selection criteria are used in literature to select the paths for optimization generated by the MDFS that provide CF
behavior, including random selection [35], SCF -based [23], parent-child pairing [22], etc.
(3) In this research, the path selection criterion is based on tortuosity. The baseline CFM in this research is selected from the database
of paths generated by the MDFS by using the design requirements discussed in this section.

To define the selected tortuosity, the path length of the mechanism should be greater than three times the footprint dimension
making it more compact and providing a larger stroke of CF displacement. Parallel beams in the paths are required to implement the

Fig. 1. Baseline CFM selected using the MDFS approach by Qaiser et al. [35].

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selected structural control methodology. A geometrical topology that may give a CF response is selected from the database by using the
approach discussed in this section, as shown in Fig. 1. H is the length of the mechanism, V is the height of the mechanism, θ is the out-
of-plumbness imperfection angle, d is the location of the tie, which is used as an adjustment feature, and Px is the horizontal load
applied to the mechanism. One end is fixed, and a roller boundary condition is applied at the loading point of the mechanism.
Additionally, the tie-based semi-active adjustment feature may also result in geometric discontinuities, leading to stress concentrations
and, therefore, reduced mechanism load/displacement capacity. To solve this potential problem, a truss tie mechanism is proposed in
this research to reduce stress concentrations, and a detailed comparison between the beam and truss ties is discussed in the next
section.

3. Model setup and optimization

3.1. Parametric optimization of baseline CFM using 2D beam model

This section presents a detailed parametric optimization of the baseline CFM. A computationally efficient 2D beam FE model of the
baseline CFM with isotropic material is used for the design optimization. Out-of-plane width is selected large to minimize the out of
plane deformations, hence a 2D beam model may provide an accurate representation of the CFM. Additionally, to downselect the type
of structural tie, a detailed 3D FE shell model is developed by using the commercially available software package ABAQUS (which will
be discussed later in this section). Python-based scripting is used for the pre and post-processing of the FE model. A non-linear beam
element type is used in this research with an isotropic material model, i.e., an equivalent beam model for a glass fiber reinforced
polymer (GFRP) with Young’s modulus E = 30.8GPa, Poisson’s ratio ν = 0.3, and failure strength σ y = 468MPa. A parametric beam
model is developed based on the geometrical parameters illustrated in Fig. 1. The energy similarity index, SCF shown in Eq. (1) is the
ratio of the mechanism’s energy storage to the ideal constant force energy storage [23]. The parametric model is used for structural
optimization considering geometrical imperfections of the baseline CFM to maximize the quality of the CF, i.e., similarity index SCF , as
shown in Fig. 2.
∫δmax
F(x)
SCF = (1)
Fmax δmax
0

where Fmax is the maximum value of the CF, and δmax is the maximum displacement.

3.2. Structural tie selection

This research proposes a structural tie to tune the baseline CFM’s slenderness. The structural tie can be implemented by using a
truss or beam configuration; however, the structural tie may induce some stress concentrations, which should be minimized. To
downselect the type of structural tie, a detailed FE shell-based model is developed by using the commercially available finite element
code ABAQUS. The GFRP material model is used with Hashin’s failure criteria to model the effect of stress concentration. Two different
types of structural tie configurations are implemented for the downselection, i.e., beam and truss.

3.3. Failure analysis using detailed 3D shell model and Hashin’s failure criteria

A detailed 3D FE shell model is also developed with a composite layup to downselect the type of structural tie. The GFRP is modeled
as a laminate with longitudinal Young’s modulus E1 = 30.8GPa, transverse Young’s modulus E2 = 8.3GPa, Poisson’s ratio ϑ12 = 0.3,
and Shear modulus G12 = 1.95GPa. The material and failure properties are obtained experimentally by using ASTM D3039 for a

Fig. 2. Definition of similarity index SCF that is used as metric in this study.

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unidirectional GFRP lamina with 90% axial and 10% transverse glass fibers. Additionally, Hashin’s failure criteria is also used in this
research, as shown in Eq. (2) [36].

F1 σ 1 + F11 σ 21 + F66 τ212 = 1 (Fiber failure)

F2 σ 2 + F22 σ 22 + F66 τ212 = 1 (Matrix failure)
/ / / / (2)
F(1) = 1 XT + 1 XC , F(2) = 1 YT + 1 YC ,
/ / /
F(11) = − 1 (XT XC ), F(22) = − 1 (YT YC ), F(66) = − 1 S2

where XT = 468MPa and XC = 280MPa are the unidirectional strengths in the fiber direction in tension and compression; YT = 77MPa
and YC = 46MPa are the transverse strengths; S = 72MPa is the shear strength; ply thickness tp = 0.72mm; and number of plies np =
3.

3.4. Optimal cross-sectional bending stiffness

The optimal section stiffness of the proposed STAR-CFM is obtained under the set of defined constraints, i.e., interference, stress
failure, maximum displacement, and SCF constraint, as shown in Fig. 3. The interference constraint prevents self-contact in the
mechanism during the deformation process. At the same time, the stress constraint with a factor of safety Xs = 1.2 prevents mechanical

Fig. 3. Flowchart for the selection of optimal section stiffness under the set of defined constraints, i.e., interference, stress failure, maximum
displacement, and SCF constraint.

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failure, and the SCF > 0.75 constraint ensures the minimum quality of the CF behavior for the entire range of CF adjustment.

4. Material selection

In this research, the GFRP is selected as a fabrication material due to its better energy storage properties. The energy storage in
∫ σ2
linearly elastic material can be described as Uo = 2Ef dV, and Uo is the energy stored, E is Young’s modulus, and σf is the failure stress.
It is evident that the GFRP has superior energy storage properties as compared with other low cost engineering materials, e.g.,
(2 ) (2 )
σf σf
E = 4.54 > E = 0.33 [37]. The stiffness properties of the composite laminate can be calculated by using classical
GFRP Steel
laminate theory. The fundamental relationship (extension of Hooke’s Law), which is used for the balanced and symmetric laminate
analysis, is shown in Eq. (3).
[ ] [ ][ ]
N A B εo
= (3)
M B D κ

where N is the resultant force vector per unit width, M is the resultant bending moment vector per unit width, and the matrices A, B,
and D collectively form the stiffness matrix of the composite laminate, ε0 laminate midplane strains, and κ laminate mid-plane cur­
vatures. In this research, a balanced and symmetric layup is selected. The D matrix is used to calculate the bending stiffness of the
laminate in different directions, as shown in Eq. (4).

1∑ n ( )
D= Q∗ z3j − z3j− 1 (4)
3 j=1

where z represents the vertical position of the individual ply from the midplane, Q∗ is the transformed ply orthotropic elasticity
stiffness matrix, and n is the number of plies. The laminate’s bending stiffness for a narrow beam is evaluated using Eq. (5).
EI = D11 ∗ w (5)

where w is the width of the beam and EI is the optimized section stiffness which is evaluated in the previous section, and D11 is the term
in D matrix related to the bending stiffness in the primary axis. The composite laminate theory discussed in this section is used to obtain
a layup that matches the design stiffness.

Fig. 4. Experimental setup and the schematic of the proposed STAR-CFM.

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5. Mechanical setup

An experimental setup is fabricated to demonstrate the proposed CF structural adjustment by tuning the optimized CFM’s slen­
derness, as shown in Fig. 4. The optimized geometry of the CFM is fabricated by using the GFRP. The layup of the GFRP is selected to
match the effective cross-section stiffness following classical laminate theory, as discussed briefly in the previous section. A 3D-printed
mold is used to fabricate the selected layup of the GFRP by using the classical vacuum bagging technique. An aluminum frame is used
to implement the fixed boundary condition at one end of the mechanism. The mechanism is gripped and tested in a universal material
testing machine with a 2KN load cell capacity that provides horizontal and vertical displacement constraints. A series of tensile tests
are conducted at seven different structural tie positions, and each test is repeated four times for three different specimens at a 50Hz
data acquisition rate. The structural tie is implemented using a mechanical clamp, and the position is manually adjusted. This feature
may be automated by using a lead screw assembly.

6. Results

(1) Optimization results of the baseline CFM

The geometric parameters, i.e., H, V, and θ are used to conduct a detailed parametric study by using the FE model discussed
previously, as shown in Fig. 5. The SCF for H/V ≤ 7 shows a decreasing trend with θ; however, as H/V increases, a peak SCF exists
between θ = 0.1 − 0.33 radians. The peak SCF of 0.92 was obtained for a H/V = 10, and θ = 0.33 radians.

(2) Truss structural tie downselection

It is evident from the Fig. 6 that the structural tie with the truss configuration is better in terms of the failure properties as compared
with the beam.

(3) Optimized cross-section stiffness

A detailed study is conducted to understand the effect of cross-sectional stiffness on the changes in CF under the SCF , interference,
and stress constraints, as shown in Fig. 7. It is noted that for large EI the system is limited by SCF , and the change in the CF is not large
compared to the CFmin . For low EI, the change in CF is high compared to the CFmin , and it is limited by SCF and interference limits.

Fig. 5. Parametric optimization of the baseline CFM by using similarity index SCF as a metric.

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Fig. 6. The comparison of beam vs. truss tie for CF adjustment by using Hashin failure criteria for fixed CF and displacement.

Because the CF can be scaled, we evaluate the percentage change in the CF vs. EI, and a clear peak is identified with a combined SCF
and stress limit at the selected EI = 0.4 ∗ 106 Nmm2 , as shown in Fig. 8.

(4) Experimental results

In this section the experimental results are compared with the FE model, as shown in Fig. 9. The preload is the initial region of the
displacement curve up to the constant force limit, where the forces are below the tolerance limits of the CF. The tie location d is varied
in the experiments and this structural modification results in the change in slenderness. A significant change is observed in the CF as a
result of changing the tie location, and the SCF decreases as the CF value increases.

(5) Change in the CF behavior as a result of the tie-based adjustment

Fig. 7. Effect of changing section stiffness EI on the CF behavior under the set of defined constraints, i.e., interference constraint, stress constraint,
maximum displacement, and SCF constraint.

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Fig. 8. Selection of optimal cross-sectional stiffness based on the% increase in the CF under the set of defined constraints.

In this section, a comparison has been conducted between two different algorithms to evaluate the CF value, i.e., the Maximum
force algorithm and the Kneedle algorithm [38]. The maximum force algorithm is implemented by calculating the CF response at the
failure displacement of the mechanism. This force value is significant because the force limit state must be specified when these
mechanisms are designed for practical implementations. The Kneedle algorithm is developed by Satoopa et al. [38] and detects data
points where the curve changes its behavior and exhibits a change in the curvature. The Kneedle algorithm is based on the mathe­
matical definition of curvature for continuous functions, and it has been used in the field of control systems for the identification and
tuning of parameters. The comparison between these algorithms is illustrated in Fig. 10, and it is observed that both methods result in
similar trends.
Furthermore, the effect of changing the tie location d on preload displacement xmin and the SCF degradation is shown in Fig. 11. The
SCF decreases linearly with an increase in tie location d, and similarly a monotonic trend is also noticed in the xmin . This change in the
SCF and the xmin is observed due to the significant change in the slenderness resulting from the change in the tie location. The preload
displacement xmin vs. tie location d can be divided into three regions: low, medium, and high slenderness. While it is most desirable to
have a uniformly low preload displacement and high SCF , the trends show that the change of slenderness due to the tie location has an
opposite effect.
A detailed 3D FE shell model is used to conduct a failure analysis of the proposed STAR-CFM by using the model described in
Section 3. The deformed configuration with Hashin’s failure criteria is shown in Fig. 12.
The proposed STAR-CFM failure analysis is also conducted using the FE model discussed previously. The failure limit for each tie
location, d, is illustrated in Fig. 13. Furthermore, the non-dimensional percentage variation in the CF, ζ, [17,22] for the proposed
STAR-CFM is also discussed in Fig. 13. It is observed that increasing the tie location, d, decreases failure displacement, δfailure and
increases ζ.

(6) Axial and principal stress contributions

The contribution of axial stresses is also studied by calculating the ratio of axial stresses due to the axial load and the principal
stresses at the location of maximum eccentricity in the structure, as shown in Fig. 14. The stresses are calculated at the furthest fiber
from the neutral axis at the tension side. It is observed that the contribution of the axial component is around 10% at the beginning and
it is reduced significantly at higher eccentricities resulting in bending dominated CF response.

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Fig. 9. Experimental vs. computational results comparison and preload region is also identified in the experimental data.

(7) Comparison with the current state of the art

The non-dimensional operational displacement, s, is the measure of compactness; it is the ratio of the effective stroke of the
mechanism δfailure − δmin and the effective length of the mechanism Ld . Here s is selected as a metric for comparison with the CFMs
reported in the literature with ζ versus s is illustrated in Fig. 15. It is evident that by decreasing the slenderness, the STAR-CFM
operational displacement decreases; however, the STAR-CFM’s s is 2 times higher than the highest s in the literature.

7. Discussion

In this research, the structural control strategy using slenderness tuning to adjust and regulate constant force mechanisms (STAR-
CFM) is proposed. First, a baseline-compliant CFM proposed by Qaiser et al. is selected, and the geometry is optimized for maximum CF
quality, i.e., energy similarity index SCF . The SCF is used as a metric to select the optimal geometrical configuration, as shown in Fig. 5.
It is observed that the SCF increases as the slenderness of the mechanism increases for an optimal range of the structural topology, i.e.,
0.1 ≤ θ ≤ 0.33 radians. The following geometrical parameters are selected for the baseline CFM, which is used in this study to adjust
the CF, i.e., H/V = 10 and θ = 0.33 radians.
Second, the CF adjustment is achieved using slenderness tuning with a structural tie. Implementation of a tie-based structural
adjustment feature may cause premature failure. A detailed FE shell model is developed to compare the truss and beam tie, as shown in
the appendix. Hashin’s failure criteria is selected as a metric for failure consideration, and it is evident from Fig. 6 that the truss tie
exhibits a low failure metric, i.e., a 40% reduction in Hashin’s failure criterion metric for a given CF and displacement.
After selecting the baseline CFM configuration and the tie structural control, the optimal section stiffness for the range of tuning CF
is obtained in this research by using the approach illustrated in Fig. 3. The FE model-based optimization is developed for the range of
structural tie positions under the set of defined constraints. The SCF constraint ensures the quality of the CF behavior during adjust­
ment. The stress constraint prevents failure during the adjustment process, and the interference constraint prevents self-intersection
during deformation. At the lower values of the EI, the interference constraint dominates, whereas, at higher EI, the stress constraint
controls the maximum adjustment of the CF. An optimal is selected based on the constrained H, V, and θ. The cross-section stiffness of
EI = 0.4 × 106 Nmm2 is selected based on the metric of maximum change in the CF behavior, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.
The proposed structural control strategy has improved performance in compactness and CF response compared to the trivial
alternative solution, i.e., CFMs in the parallel configuration. The CF is scaled directly with the volume of the mechanism in the case of
parallel configurations, making the compactness very low. Furthermore, the parallel design is discrete in adjustment, whereas the
proposed STAR-CFM has a continuous adjustment of the CF, making it a better choice for fine-tuning and adjustment. The compactness

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Fig. 10. Change in the CF by adjusting the tie location using two algorithms, i.e., Max. force algorithm and Kneedle algorithm [38].

Fig. 11. Change in minimum displacement to achieve CF and energy similarity index by adjusting the tie location. Different regions are also
identified, i.e., Region B shows minimum change in the xmin ; whereas, Regions A, and C showing a significant change in the xmin . Linear SCF
degradation is observed in regions A, B, and C.

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Fig. 12. Failure analysis of the proposed STAR-CFM by using a detailed 3D Shell model with Hashin’s failure criteria.

Fig. 13. The effect of changing tie location d on the failure displacement δfailure and non-dimensional percentage variation in the CF, ζ.

of CFMs is defined in the literature as a non-dimensional operational displacement, s, that is the ratio between stroke and diagonal
length. The proposed STAR-CFM showed good compactness, i.e. s = 0.45 which is 2 times higher than the highest case of s reported in
the literature, as shown in Fig. 15.
By changing the slenderness of the CFM, a significant change of 4 times in the CF behavior is observed. Different algorithms may be
used to compute the CF value, and a brief comparison of two algorithms is conducted, i.e., the Maximum value algorithm (28N-109N)
and the Kneedle algorithm [38] (22N- 89N). Different CF adjustment ranges are observed using these algorithms, but the adjustment
trend is identical, as shown in Fig. 10. There are several possible reasons for the discrepancies between the model and the experimental
results, including fabrication errors, friction at the hinge, loading fixture alignment, and fabrication of the connection assembly. The
CF values are obtained for the designs with SCF > 0.75 and δmax ≥ 25mm. A preload region is also identified during the experimental
study, and the minimum displacement to achieve the CF is also discussed in Fig. 11. The following observations are made from Fig. 11.

(1) It is observed that the preload displacement xmin increases by changing the tie location d, and the range 4mm ≤ xmin ≤ 8.5mm
is observed.

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Fig. 14. The effect of increasing eccentricity on the axial to principal stress behavior.

Fig. 15. Non-dimensional percentage variation in the CF, ζ, versus non-dimensional operational displacement, s, for different mechanisms reported
in the literature.

(2) A region B of optimal adjustability, i.e., 10mm ≤ d ≤ 40mm is also identified in which the change in the xmin is minimum.
(3) It is observed that the degradation in the SCF is linear with respect to the tie location d, and the SCF variation is in the opti­
mization limits specified in the optimization process discussed in Fig. 3, i.e., 0.78 ≤ SCF ≤ 0.92.

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The proposed fully compliant ACFM with semi-active structural control is achieved by tuning the slenderness. To the author’s
knowledge, the proposed STAR-CFM is the only ACFM in literature in which the constant force is adjusted by changing a structural
parameter, e.g., slenderness. Slenderness tuning is implemented by changing the location of a structural tie, an example of changing a
special condition or member interaction. The proposed research has many limitations, including the following:

(1) The proposed STAR-CFM is tension-based only; however, a tension-compression mechanism is desired in some vibration
applications.
(2) There is a decrease in the SCF as the CF value is tuned, resulting in significant variations in the CF response.
(3) The maximum displacement is limited by the failure of the structure at the turns, lowering the mechanism’s performance at
higher displacements.

The proposed STAR-CFM may be improved in future research by maximizing the region B of Fig. 11, and maximizing the SCF for the
whole range of adjustment. Furthermore, it is also observed from the optimization results that the stress constraint is the most sig­
nificant limiting factor to achieving orders of magnitude change in the CF. This constraint can be relaxed using different structural
methods, e.g., tapering, higher strain energy density materials, etc. In the proposed mechanism, the CF is regulated passively and
adjusted semi-actively. The passive regulation of the CF is defined within the range of the displacement sensor, i.e., xmin to xmax . This
regulation of CF may be monitored by using a strain gauge or displacement sensor. Furthermore, the prescribed CF can be achieved by
updating the structural tie location for semi-active regulation, and this semi-active control may be achieved by using PID or Fuzzy
logic. Additionally, the proposed research can also be implemented to develop constant torque mechanisms, which gained a lot of
attention in many applications recently [39].

8. Conclusion

This study proposes structural control using slenderness tuning to adjust and regulate constant force mechanisms (STAR-CFM) for
the CF’s passive regulation and semi-active adjustment. A truss tie mechanism is used to tune the slenderness of the CFM, resulting in a
more extensive range of the CF adjustment, i.e., 4 times the baseline value. Furthermore, the proposed design is also compact compared
to the other designs in a similar magnitude of force adjustments, i.e., non-dimensional operational displacement s = 0.45, 2 times
higher than the highest s reported in the literature. The proposed methodology has minimized the mechanical and control system
complexity to regulate and adjust the CF by using structural control, i.e., semi-active adjustment of the slenderness. The proposed
mechanism may be utilized in various applications, including aerospace, biomechanics, robotics, and precision control.

Declaration of Competing Interest

none.

Data availability

No data was used for the research described in the article.

Acknowledgments

This research is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) with the following grant number
52050410329, and scientific research startup fund for young researchers by the Department of Disaster Mitigation for Structures,
College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University.

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