Development of a radial-torsional vibration hybrid type ultrasonic motor with a hollow and short cylindrical structure

Abstract

A longitudinal-torsional hybrid-type ultrasonic motor has larger torque and lower revolution speed compared with other kinds of ultrasonic motors. It drives devices directly and precisely, so it is adaptable to many fields, especially aeronautics and astronautics, as a servo actuator. Due to the different sound propagation speeds of longitudinal and torsional vibrations in the stator, it is difficult to match resonant frequencies of longitudinal and torsional vibrations. In this paper, a new radial-torsional vibration hybrid-type ultrasonic motor is put forward, which utilizes longitudinal vibration derived from radial vibration by the Poisson effect. The short, hollow cylindrical structure easily makes resonant frequencies of first-order radial and torsional vibrations into degeneracy. First, the new structure of the motor is presented. Second, the principle of matching the resonant frequencies is developed, and the motor geometry is optimized by ANSYS software. Finally, a 60-mm diameter prototype is fabricated, which performs well. The no-load velocity and maximum torque are 25 r/min and 5 N x m, respectively. This kind of motor is small, light, and noiseless.