• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.35-41
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• 2006

In this paper, we focus on improving the performance of the piezoelectric diaphragms of valveless micropumps. A circular lightweight piezoelectric composite actuator (LIPCA) with a high level of displacement and output force has been developed for piezoelectrically actuated micropumps. We used numerical and experimental methods to analyze the characteristics of the actuator to select optimal design. With the developed circular LIPCA, we fabricated a valveless micropump by photo-lithography and PDMS molding techniques. The displacement of the diaphragm, the flow rate and the back pressure of the micropump were evaluated and discussed. With a semi-empirical method, the flow rate with respect to driving frequency was predicted and compared with experimental one. The test results confirm that the circular LIPCA is a promising candidate for micropump application and can be used as a substitute for a conventional piezoelectric actuator diaphragm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2000.06a
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• pp.1268-1272
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• 2000

본, 논문에서는 카본/에폭시, PZT 세라믹 박판, 글래스/에폭시 층으로 이루어진 곡면형 복합재료 작동기(LIPCA)의 설계, 제작 및 성능실험에 대한 연구 성과를 제시하고 있다. LIPCA의 큰 요점은 기존 THUNDER의 성능을 유지하면서 이를 경량화 하기 위하여 THUNDER의 금속 층을 상대적으로 가벼운 섬유 강화 복합재료로 대체하는 것이다. 이러한 경량화 작업으로 LIPCA는 기존 THUNDER 보다 약 $30{\sim}40%$ 정도의 무게를 감소시킬 수 있으며, 복합재료의 특성에 따라 설계의 유연성을 가질 수 있는 장점이 있다. 또한, 에폭시 수지를 사용함으로써 접착제 없이 평판 몰드에서 오토클레이브에서 $177^{\circ}C$로 경화되어, 탈형된 후 충분한 곡률을 형성하였다. 작동 성능 실험에서, LIPCA는 기존 THUNDER보다 작동변위가 향상됨을 보였다.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.94-100
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• 2002

This paper is concerned with the development, and performance test of LIPCA (Lightweight Piezo-composite Curved Actuator) that is lighter than other conventional piezo-composite type actuators. LIPCA is composed of top fiber composite layers with a high modulus and low CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion), a middle PZT cermaic wafer, and base layers with a high modulus and high CTE. The performance of each actuator was evaluated using an actuator test system consisting of an actuator supporting jig, a high voltage actuating power supplier, and a non-contact laser measuring system. The simply supported condition actuator was excited by the power supplier with 1.0Hz cycle and up to $100\sim400V_{pp}$. The displacement at the center point of actuator was measured with non-contact laser displacement measuring system, It has been shown that the LIPCA-C2 can 34% decrease in mass and 13% increase in displacement compared to THUNDER.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2008

In this paper, the pumping performance of a piezoelectric valveless micropump is simulated with a commercial finite element analysis software, COMSOL Multiphysics. The micropump developed in the previous work is composed of a 4-layer lightweight piezo-composite actuator (LIPCA), a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pump chamber, and two diffusers. The piezoelectric domain, structural domain and fluid domain are coupled in the simulation. Water flow rates are numerically predicted for geometric parameters of the micropump. Based on this study, the micropump is optimally designed to obtain its highest pumping performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.218-224
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• 2007

Although piezoelectric materials such as PZT have been widely used as actuators in the field of active vibration suppression, the use of bare PZT as an actuator may cause some drawbacks such as critical breaks in the installation process, short circuits in the host material and low fatigue performance. The LIPCA-C2 (lightweight piezocomposite actuator) was developed to alleviate these problems. We implemented the LIPCA as an actuator to suppress the vibration of an aluminum cantilever beam with a tip mass. In our test, we used positive position feedback control algorithm. The filter frequency for this type of feedback should be tuned to the natural frequency of the target mode. The first three experimental natural frequencies of the aluminum cantilever beam agree well with the results of finite element analysis. The effectiveness of using the LIPCA as an actuator in active vibration suppression was investigated with respect to the time and frequency domains, and the experimental results show that LIPCAs with PPF control can significantly reduce the amplitude of forced vibrations and the settling time of free vibrations. For a case study, the forced vibration control of several beams with different thicknesses were performed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.34-39
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• 2003

Morphing wing sections actuated by piezoceramic actuator LIPCA have been designed and their actuation displacements estimated by using the therml analogy and MSC/NASTRAN based on the linear elasticity. The wing sections are fabricated as the design and tested for evaluation. Measured actuation displacements were larger than the estimated values mainly due to the material non-linearity of the PIT wafer. The morphing wing sections can be used for control surfaces of small scale UAVs or MAVs.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1881-1886
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• 2001

A numerical method for actuating performance evaluation of LIPCA proposed using a finite element method. Fully coupled formulations for piezo-electric materials were introduced and 3-dimensional eight-node incompatible element was used. After verifying the developed code with typical examples, the center deflections of LIPCA were calculated and compared with the experimental result, which were in fairly agreement.

• Composites Research
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.47-51
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• 2014

The purpose of the present study is to develop lightweight and simple smart actuators in order to replace conventional hydraulic/pneumatic actuators, and to apply the developed actuators to the actuation systems of a small unmanned air vehicle. This research describes the procedures of design, manufacturing of the piezo-composite actuator, and the performance evaluation. From the test results of the developed devices, we found the possibility of piezo-composite actuator could be used as a control surface of a small UAV system. We have designed and manufactured two kinds of piezo-composite actuators, unimorph actuator and bimorph actuator. The manufactured actuators were evaluated through the performance testes. It was found that the bimorph type actuator showed more linear angle change for the same excitation voltage variation than unimorph type. It is expected that piezo-composite actuator has a possibility to be used not only as a control surface of small unmanned flying vehicle but also as a control surface actuator of a guided missile fin through the miniaturization of power supply and control system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.37-44
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• 2004

This paper deals with the performance analysis of LIPCA(Light-weight Piezo-Composite actuator) including the material nun-linearity of the embedded 3203HD PZT wafer. For this analysis, we used a piezo-shell element code based on a nine-node assumed strain shell element formulation. The material non-linearity was implemented in the formulation due to a large observed discrepancy between the measured displacement and the computed actuation displacement based on the linear analysis. An experimentally extracted piezo-strain function of the PZT wafer and incremental formulation were incorporated into the linear finite element code to improve the accuracy of the estimated actuation displacement of the LIPCA. The non-linear piezo-shell program was used to predict the non-linear performance of the LIPCA. The simulated actuation displacement from the non-linear code showed much better agreement with the measured data.

• Composites Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.7-12
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• 2009

This paper deals with a fabrication method of composite hinge mechanisms for flapping-wing micro air vehicles. The fabrication process includes curing process of Graphite/Epoxyprepregs, laser cutting for high fabrication repeatability, laminating of Graphite/Epoxy prepregs with Kapton film which is used for flexure, and so on. The fabricated hinge mechanism was attached with PUMPS actuators and the measured flapping angle was $173^{\circ}$ when driving voltage was 300V 170Hz.