Design and Experimental Research of a New Type of Piezoelectric Rotary Actuator

Abstract

A new type of piezoelectric rotary actuator is designed and developed to simplify the structure and improve the energy efficiency. The actuator adopts the piezoelectric bimorph as the prime driver. With the movement transformer,the bending deflection is converted into torsion motion,then through the dual-clutch coupling transmission,the torsion is converted into rotation. The finite element simulation analysis method is used to carry out in-depth research of the physical property of actuator,and the key parameters of the actuator are measured. The research shows that the speed of the developed piezoelectric rotary actuator is in linear relation with the signal frequency and the voltage applied to the piezoelectric bimorph,and the actuator has certain load carrying capability. By comparing experiment data with the finite element simulation results,the error origins are analyzed and founded. This provides the reference for further optimization design of the actuator. The investigation proves the feasibility of the design method of piezoelectric bimorph rotary actuator. The developed actuator is simple in structure,small in volume. It is suitable for use in the micro drive field as the piezoelectric rotary actuator.