This book focuses on important mathematical considerations in describing the synthesis of original mechanisms for generating curves. The synthesis is manual and not based on the use of computer tools. Kinematics is applied to confirm the drawing of the curves, and the closed loop method, and in some cases the distances method, is applied in this phase. The book provides all the notions of structure and kinematics that are necessary to calculate the mechanisms and also analyzes other kinematic possibilities of the created mechanisms. Offering a concise, yet self-contained guide to the mathematical fundamentals for mechanisms of curve generation, together with a useful collection of mechanisms exercises, the book is intended for students learning about mechanism kinematics, as well as engineers dealing with mechanism design and analysis. It is based on the authors’ many years of research, which has been published in different books and journals, mainly, but not exclusively, in Romanian.
Iulian Popescu, Emeritus Professor, Ph.D. in engineering, is a full member of the Academy of Technical Sciences of Romania. He was teaching the course on Mechanisms and Machines Theory at the Faculty of Mechanics of the University of Craiova, Romania, for about 35 years. He supervised 25 PhD students and published 31 books on Mechanisms in Romanian language.
Liliana Luca, Ph.D., serves as a Professor at the Faculty of Technical, Medical and Behavioral Sciences of the University Constantin Brancusi, Targu-Jiu, Romania. She has received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Craiova, Romania, in 2000. She has authored 6 books on Mechanisms in Romanian language and more than 100 articles published in indexed journals and proceedings of national and international symposiums. She has received the Best Paper award (2012) for "Studies regarding generation of aesthetics surfaces with mechanisms", published in the Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Design and Product Development, Montreux, Switzerland, ISBN 978-1-61804-148-7.
Mirela Cherciu has served as an associate professor at the Faculty of Mechanics, University of Craiova and holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering (2000). Under the guidance of the emeritus professor Iulian Popescu, she has made some important contributions on the topic of precision of the mechanics, which have been described in her Ph.D. thesis, examined at the University of Craiova in 2000, and in a number of publications, including 5 books in Romanian language and 70 scientific papers published in in national and international conferences.
Dan B. Marghitu is a professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering at Auburn University, US. He holds a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas and a DEA from Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France. Dan B. Marghitu has published over 70 research papers in journals and has authored and co-authored 6 textbooks in the areas of dynamics, robotics, and mechanisms. His research covers impact dynamics with applications to robotics systems, and nonlinear dynamics with application to human and animal locomotion. Dan B. Marghitu has served as a PI/Co-PI of funded projects, and organized and chaired many international conferences.
