Miniature bulk PZT traveling wave ultrasonic motors for low-speed high-torque rotary actuation

High-Resolution Rotation-Measuring System for MEMS Ultrasonic Motors Using Tunneling Magnetoresistance Sensors

This study proposes a high-resolution rotation-measuring system for miniaturized MEMS ultrasonic motors using tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors for the first time. Initially, the architecture and principle of the rotation-measuring system are described in detail. Then, the finite element simulation is implemented to determine the miniaturized permanent magnet's residual magnetization, dimensions, and TMR sensor position. Finally, the experiments are implemented to evaluate the performance. Using calibration based on a high-precision servo motor, it is found that the relationship between the output and rotational angle is highly linear and immune to the rotor's out-of-plane movement. Meanwhile, the angle-detecting resolution is higher than 0.1°. After the calibration, the continuous rotation of the MEMS ultrasonic motor is tested. It is found that the angle testing result varies with a period close to 360°, which indicates that the rotation-measuring system has successfully detected the motor's rotation.

A Low-Voltage Cylindrical Traveling Wave Ultrasonic Motor Incorporating Multilayered Piezoelectric Ceramics

In-plane bending traveling wave ultrasonic motors (USM), which are compact in structure and flexible in design, have been widely applied in biological engineering, optical engineering, and aerospace engineering. However, the high driving voltage and complicated driving circuit of this kind of USM restrict their further miniaturization and electromechanical integration in these applications and bring some potential safety hazards. To solve this problem, a low-voltage-driving traveling wave USM incorporating cofired multilayer piezoelectric ceramics was proposed in this work. Four cofired piezoelectric ceramics were strategically designed to excite two orthogonal third-order in-plane bending modes with the same frequency of the USM. The principles of traveling wave synthesis and low-voltage-driving of the USM were deduced, and the stator dynamic design and transient dynamic simulation were carried out by finite-element method. The microproperties of cofired piezoelectric multilayer ceramics, the vibration characteristics of the stator, and the mechanical output performance of the USM were tested by experiments. The results indicated that the motor can work as low as 5 [Formula: see text]. A long stroke with a maximum forward and reverse rotational speeds of 187.7 and 176.6 r/min were obtained, respectively, and a maximum stalling torque of 4.8 mN · m at 47.3 kHz under 15 [Formula: see text] was achieved. The results showed that the proposed USM is small, low in driving voltage, and high in torque output, which has promising applications in aerospace, biomedicine, and other fields that require a lightweight and integration of driving devices.

A review of recent advances in the single- and multi-degree-of-freedom ultrasonic piezoelectric motors

In this paper a comprehensive review of recent studies on the ultrasonic piezoelectric motors is presented. The authors focus on research articles published in the last five years mostly. The primary subject of this investigation is the development of piezoelectric ultrasonic motors including analytical, numerical and experimental analysis. In further sections, classification methods of piezoelectric motors, survey criteria and three main groups of ultrasonic piezoelectric motors with examples have been presented and described. Finally, the conclusions and future research perspectives have been proposed.

Investigation on a Linear Piezoelectric Actuator Based on Stick-Slip/Scan Excitation

To perform a high resolution and long stroke application in optical precision instruments, a linear piezoelectric actuator operated in stick-slip/scan modes for driving a linear motion table is presented. The proposed piezoelectric actuator is a piezoelectric composite structure, which includes a metal elastomer, a piezoelectric stack, and a frictional ball. The purpose of this paper is to describe the operation principle, design, and the running test and resolution test of the linear motion table driven by the proposed piezoelectric actuator. The notable feature is the flexible hinges of the actuator, including composite hinge, pre-pressure adjustment flexible hinge, and transmission flexible hinge, which are designed for decoupling the motion in the action direction of the piezoelectric stack and the direction in which the pre-pressure is applied. A prototype has been fabricated and two operation modes of the piezoelectric actuator, stick-slip and scan mode, were utilized to test the driving characteristics of the linear motion table. Experimental results show that the finest step resolutions in stick-slip mode and scan mode achieved 12 nm and 4 nm, respectively.

Novel piezoelectric rotary motor on the basis of synchronized switching control

A novel piezoelectric rotary motor (PRM) on the basis of synchronized switching control was designed, fabricated, and tested to achieve high speed, high efficiency, and high torque. The new motor mainly consists of a vibrator working in the resonance state as the driving element of the PRM and a clutch working in the quasi-static state to control the shaft for unidirectional rotation. The finite element method software COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4 was used to design the structure of the motor and determine the feasibility of the design mechanism of the PRM. Moreover, an experimental setup was built to validate the working principles and evaluate the performance of the PRM. The prototype motor outputted a no-load speed of 7.21 rpm and a maximum torque of 54.4 N mm at a vibrator driving voltage of 120 V_p-p and a clutch driving voltage of 200 V_p-p. The motor achieved a net efficiency of 15.6% under the preload torque of 3 N mm. The average stepping angle of the motor with no-load was 0.068°, when the voltages applied to the clutch and the vibrator were 200 V_p-p and 120 V_p-p, respectively, with the frequency of 512 Hz.