Experiments and Study of a Low-Frequency, High-Speed Bi-Directional Piezoelectric Stick-Slip Actuator

Abstract

In order to solve the problem of limited driving speed of piezoelectric actuators when the piezoelectric components are small and the driving frequency is low. This paper proposes a bi-directional piezoelectric stick-slip actuator, which mainly utilizes the combination of flexible drive foot and lever amplification mechanism to realize the displacement amplification function, thus improving the driving performance. Firstly describe the structure and working principle of the proposed actuator, and carries out theoretical analysis and mathematical modeling of the flexible stator. Then the driving process of the proposed actuator is simulated and analyzed with COMSOL Multiphysics simulation software, and the feasibility of the driver structure is preliminarily verified. Finally, establish an experimental system to test the basic characteristics of the prototype. The experimental results confirm that under the piezoelectric stacks elongation of $5\mu $ m, the driving frequency of 610Hz, the maximum drive speed of the actuator is 11.21mm/s. The maximum load capacity is 0.78N and the forward and backward displacement deviation within 10 cycles is $0.99\mu $ m under the locking displacement of $10\mu $ m. The proposed stick-slip actuator is capable of realizing a large driving speed when the elongations of the piezoelectric stacks are small and the driving frequency is low.

Keywords

• Stick-slip actuators
• high speed
• piezoelectric stack
• bi-directional drive