<title>Piezoelectric hydraulic pump performance</title>

Abstract

A piezohydraulic pump making use of the step and repeat capability of piezoelectric actuators has been developed for actuation of aircraft control surfaces. The piezohydraulic pump utilizes a piezoelectric stack actuator to drive a piston in a cylinder. The cylinder is fitted with two check valves. On the compression stroke, oil is forced out of the cylinder. On the intake stroke, oil is drawn into the cylinder. The oil is used to drive a linear actuator. The actuator was driven at 7cm/sec with a 271N (61lb) blocking force. To achieve this, the piezoelectric stack actuator was driven at 60Hz with a switching power supply. The system utilizes an accumulator to eliminate cavitation. This work discusses piezohydraulic pumping theory, pump design, and pump performance. Consideration of pump performance includes the effects of varying accumulator pressure, hydraulic oil viscosity, and load imposed on the linear actuator.