Influence of temperature on torque properties of miniature flexible joint

In order to study the properties of flexible joint torque at a certain motor pressure, a miniature flexible joint made of silicone rubber elastomer was designed. The dynamic characteristics of flexible joint under 0.1 MPa vessel pressure were tested and the curves of torque versus vector angle for the flexible joint at different temperatures were obtained. The friction torque was obtained through the 0° vector angle torque. The spring torque was calculated by the near-linear part of the torque versus vector angle curve. In addition, the influences of temperature on the three kinds of torque were studied. Results show that the torque decreases as temperature increases while temperature has little influence on the torque. The coulomb friction torque increases with the temperature rise. The spring torque and the total ratio torque decrease as the temperature increases and then increase within a certain range caused by thermo-elastic inversion phenomenon. The dynamic elastic modulus and coefficient of loss decrease with the temperature rise. The energy loss decreases as the temperature and frequency increase due to the influence of dynamic elastic modulus and coefficient of loss.