Semi-analytical modeling and experimental evaluation on a novel standing wave rotary piezoelectric actuator driven by single-phase signal

Abstract

Single-phase driven piezoelectric actuators have attracted more and more attention due to their advantages of simple driving circuit, more flexible design and more compact structure. However, the single-phase driven piezoelectric actuators generally have some problems, such as no common node for clamping, the steering function cannot be realized, and structural form cannot be directly integrated with the host system, seriously limiting their applications. In order to solve the above problems, a novel standing wave rotary piezoelectric actuator driven by single-phase signal is proposed in this study. The stator of the proposed piezoelectric actuator is mainly composing of a piezoelectric composite beam and a ring with driving teeth and stimulated to produce two different vibration modes. Each vibration mode of the stator can be independently utilized to drive upper and lower rotors, which simultaneously move in the opposite directions through friction, and the steering function can be realized by switching the two vibration modes. To reveal the dynamic characteristic of the stator, its electromechanical coupling dynamic model is first developed by using the transfer matrix method. In addition, the vibration measurements are conducted on the stator prototype to confirm the correctness of the developed electromechanical coupling dynamic model. Finally, experimental investigations are carried out to evaluate the output performances of the actuator prototype, and experimental results verified the feasibility of the structure design of the proposed piezoelectric actuator and the correctness of its operating principle.