Design and Analysis of a Stepping Piezoelectric Actuator Free of Backward Motion
Xiaofeng Yang,
Jinyan Tang,
Wenxin Guo,
Hu Huang,
Haoyin Fan,
Jiahui Liu,
Tao Li
Affiliations
Xiaofeng Yang
Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment Reliability, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Jinyan Tang
Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment Reliability, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Wenxin Guo
Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment Reliability, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Hu Huang
Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment Reliability, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Haoyin Fan
Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment Reliability, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Jiahui Liu
Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment Reliability, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Tao Li
Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment Reliability, Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun 130022, China
Although the stick-slip principle has been widely employed for designing piezoelectric actuators, there still exits an intrinsic drawback, i.e., the backward motion, which significantly affects its output performances and applications. By analyzing the generation mechanism of backward motion in stick-slip piezoelectric actuators, the elliptical trajectory was employed to design a novel stepping piezoelectric actuator free of backward motion. Accordingly, a prototype of piezoelectric actuator was designed, which utilized a flexure hinge mechanism and two vertically arranged piezoelectric stacks to generate the required elliptical trajectory. The compliance matrix method was used to theoretically analyze the flexure hinge mechanism. The theoretical and measured elliptical trajectories under various phase differences were compared, and the phase difference of 45° was selected accordingly. Under a critical relative gap, output performances of the actuator working under the elliptical trajectory were characterized, and then compared with that obtained under the normal stick-slip driving principle. Experimental results indicated that forward and reverse stepping displacement with completely suppressed backward motion could be achieved when employing the elliptical trajectory, verifying its feasibility. This study provides a new strategy for designing a stepping piezoelectric actuator free of backward motion.
