A kind of telescopic manipulator used in steam generator for video acquisition

In this paper, we introduce a telescopic manipulator that is used in the narrow space inside the steam generator of the nuclear power plants for video inspection. Mimicing the structure of tape measure, we design the structure of the manipulator, and apply finite element analysis method to analyze the key parts of the flexible arm. There are many factors exerting influences on the manipulator and the forces are complicated. Firstly, based on thin shell theory and existing data, the size of manipulator is decided. Secondly, SolidWorks software is used to establish the three-dimensional model, and ANSYS is used to import the key components of flexible arm. Then static analysis is carried out on the flexible arm to compute the deformation nephogram and stress nephogram. These nephograms are helpful to analyze whether the manipulator satisfies the requirements of strength and stiffness, and whether it is optimized. Finally, experiments are conducted to verify the bearing condition and the parameters of the flexible manipulator.