A parasitic type piezoelectric actuator with an asymmetrical flexure hinge mechanism

Abstract

A parasitic type actuator with an asymmetrical flexure hinge mechanism has been proposed in this study to achieve linear motion with a large working stroke. The principal output direction of the piezoelectric stack is vertical to the motion direction of the mover to obtain a large output load. The composition of the parasitic type actuator and working process are introduced and parasitic motion is explained. Finite element method has been applied to analyze the parasitic motion of the proposed asymmetrical flexure hinge mechanism. Moreover, an experiment system of the parasitic type actuator is set up, and experiments show that the positioning resolution of the actuator is around 0.1 μm; the maximum motion speed could achieve to 2850 μm/s when the input frequency f = 500 Hz and the input voltage Ue = 100 V; the maximum output force Fg is up to 750 g when the input frequency f = 1 Hz and the input voltage Ue = 100 V. This study indicates that the asymmetrical flexure hinge mechanism could achieve parasitic motion for the design and application of piezoelectric actuators with a large working stroke.