{{other uses, Envelope (disambiguation) In

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

, an envelope is a solid representing all positions which may be occupied by an object during its normal range of motion. Another (

jargon Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...

) word for this is a "flop".

Wheel envelope

In automobile design, a wheel envelope may be used to model all positions a

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

and

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

combo may be expected to occupy during driving. This will take into account the maximum

jounce In physics, the fourth, fifth and sixth derivatives of position are defined as derivatives of the position vector with respect to time – with the first, second, and third derivatives being velocity, acceleration, and jerk, respectively. Unlik ...

and rebound allowed by the suspension system and the maximum turn and tilt allowed by the steering mechanism. Minimum and maximum tire inflation pressures and wear conditions may also be considered when generating the envelope. This envelope is then compared with the wheel housing and other components in the area to perform an interference/collision analysis. The results of this analysis tell the engineers whether that wheel/tire combo will strike the housing and components under normal driving conditions. If so, either a redesign is in order, or that wheel/tire combo will not be recommended. A different wheel envelope must be generated for each wheel/tire combo for which the vehicle is rated. Much of this analysis is done using

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

/ CAE systems running on computers. Of course, high speed collisions, during an accident, are not considered "normal driving conditions", so the wheel and tire may very well contact other parts of the vehicle at that time.

Robot's working envelope

In robotics, the working envelope or work area is the volume of working or reaching space. Some factors of a robot's design (configurations, axes or

degrees of freedom Degrees of freedom (often abbreviated df or DOF) refers to the number of independent variables or parameters of a thermodynamic system. In various scientific fields, the word "freedom" is used to describe the limits to which physical movement or ...

) influence its working envelope.OSHA TECHNICAL MANUAL – SECTION IV: CHAPTER 4
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References

Mechanical engineering Robot control