Abstract
A model of a segmented electrode multilayer cantilever piezoelectric actuator was established to predict its actuation performance, and then, theoretical and numerical analyses of the strain nodes were performed based on normalized deflection and strain distributions. The segmented electrodes instead of the continuous electrodes are applied in a multilayer cantilever piezoelectric actuator which can avoid the modal displacement offsets at the high vibration modes, thereby enhancing the tip deflection. The theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the tip deflection of the segmented electrode at the second mode was almost 100% larger than that of the continuous electrode. At the second mode, the maximum error between the theoretical calculation value of the tip deflection and the simulation result is 6.8%. It is because the segmented electrode is optimally designed at the strain node, which avoids the modal displacement offsets of a multilayer cantilever piezoelectric actuator at the high vibration modes; meanwhile, the theoretical results are closer to the FEM simulation results. It reveals that the tip deflection of a multilayer cantilever piezoelectric actuator can be precisely estimated by the proposed model. This research can provide some useful guidance improving the actuation performance and optimizing the design of a multilayer cantilever piezoelectric actuator.
Highlights
Piezoactuators are widely used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) because of the characteristics of small size, thinness, and high displacement, such as atomic force microscopes [1], biosensors [2], microelectromechanical switches [3], and micropositioning platforms [4], etc. e actuation performance improvement and design optimization of such devices have always been the main focus of many researchers
In order to understand whether segmented electrodes can eliminate the influence of strain node at higher modes, we have studied the relationship of tip deflection of segmented and continuous electrodes MCPAs with excitation frequency, excitation voltage, and beam length under different modes
At high modes, when the top surface of the entire piezoelectric layer was covered by continuous electrodes, the actuation capability had been significantly reduced. erefore, we apply electrode segmentation at the nodes to a multilayer actuator, which is different from the traditional sandwich structure. is paper takes the MCPA in the second mode as an example to analyze the actuation capability. ere is one strain node in the secondorder mode, and the electrode is cut at the node and divided into two sections of electrodes
Summary
Piezoactuators are widely used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) because of the characteristics of small size, thinness, and high displacement, such as atomic force microscopes [1], biosensors [2], microelectromechanical switches [3], and micropositioning platforms [4], etc. e actuation performance improvement and design optimization of such devices have always been the main focus of many researchers. There are many reports in the theoretical research of piezoelectric actuators. In a study conducted by Zhang et al [7], a simple MCPAs distributed parameter model is developed to simulate the fundamental wave of piezoelectricity in thickness-extension mode. In order to reduce the poor piezoelectric effect caused by the damage of piezoelectric materials, some researchers have designed multilayer piezoelectric actuators to improve the flexibility and compactness of the structure. Afonin [8] constructed a generalized structural parameter model of nanomechatronics multilayer electromagnetic elastic actuators. Shivashankar and Gopalakrishnan [9] reported a d33 mode surface-bondable multilayer actuator that can provide large braking force and stroke for driving large, thick, and stiffer structures. Peng et al [10] proposed a piezoelectric multilayer actuator considering buffer layers and analyzed the dependence of the resonance frequency at the first mode and tip deflection on different layer thicknesses (buffer layer, electrode layer, and substrate layer). Peng et al [10] proposed a piezoelectric multilayer actuator considering buffer layers and analyzed the dependence of the resonance frequency at the first mode and tip deflection on different layer thicknesses (buffer layer, electrode layer, and substrate layer). e contributions of the above research mainly focused on the first mode while
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