• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.8 s.197
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• pp.81-88
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• 2007

This paper presents the development of a new inchworm actuation system using the shearing deformation of the piezoelectric actuators. In this new actuation system, piezoelectric shearing/expanding actuators, an inertial mass and an advanced preload system are configured innovatively to generate the motion of an inertial mass. There are two modes in the new actuation system: (1) stick mode, and (2) clamp mode. In stick mode, the deformation of the piezoelectric shearing actuators drives an inertial mass by means of the friction force at their contact interface. On the other hand, in clamp mode, the piezoelectric expanding actuators provide the gripping force to an inertial mass and, as a result, eliminate its backward motion following the rapid backward deformation of the piezoelectric shearing actuators. To investigate the feasibility of the proposed new actuation system, the experimental system is built up, and the static performance evaluation and dynamic analysis are conducted. The open-loop performance of the linear motion of the proposed new actuation system is evaluated. In dynamic analysis, the mathematical model for the contact interface is established based on the LuGre friction model and the equivalent parameters are identified.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.216-220
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• 2004

This paper is concerned with the development of stacked ceramic thin actuation layer IDEAL (InterDigitated Electrode Actuation Layer) using d$_{33}$ actuation mechanism of piezoelectric ceramic. Most of the thin piezoelectric actuators are operated with d$_{31}$ actuation mechanism. Many kinds of piezoelectric ceramic actuators are strived now to improve the actuation performance. One of efforts to improve performance of piezoceramic actuators is the research trying to develop an actuator using the piezoelectric coefficient d$_{33}$ . The piezoelectric coefficient d$_{33}$ is almost twice larger than piezoelectric coefficient d$_{31}$ . Therefore, the induced strain of PZT thin layer with d$_{33}$ 3 actuation mechanism is bigger than that with d$_{31}$ actuation mechanism. The AFC(MIT) and LaRC-MFC$^{TM}$ which is developed by a research team of NASA Langley Research Center used d$_{33}$ actuation mechanism with surface interdigitated electrode to enhance its actuation performance. But their actuation mechanism is not perfect d$_{33}$ actuation mechanism since the interdigitated electrodes are placed at the surface of the actuation layer. In this research, the stacked ceramic thin actuation layer with imbedded interdigitated electrode is designed and manufactured. The actuation strain of stacked ceramic thin actuation layer is measured and compared with the actuation strain of the LaRC-MFC$^{TM}$. The comparison shows that the developed stacked ceramic thin actuation layer can produce 15% more actuation strain than LaRC-MFC$^{TM}$.> TM/.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.677-699
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• 2012

This article studies the secondary resonances of a clamped-clamped microresonator under combined electrostatic and piezoelectric actuations. The electrostatic actuation is induced by applying the AC-DC voltage between the microbeam and the electrode plate that lies at the opposite side of the microbeam. The piezoelectric actuation is induced by applying the DC voltage between upper and lower sides of piezoelectric layer. It is assumed that the neutral axis of bending is stretched when the microbeam is deflected. The drift effect of piezoelectric layer (the phenomenon where there is a slow increase of the free strain after the application of a DC field) is neglected. The equations of motion are solved by using the multiple scale perturbation method. The system possesses a subharmonic resonance of order one-half and a superharmonic resonance of order two. It is shown that using the DC piezoelectric actuation, the sensitivity of AC-DC electrostatically actuated microresonator under subharmonic and superharmonic resonances may be tuned. In addition, it is shown that the tuning domain of the microbeam under combined electrostatic and piezoelectric actuations at subharmonic and superharmonic conditions is larger than the tuning domain of microbeam under only the electrostatic actuation.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.547-565
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• 2014

This paper investigates the design of a perfect point load actuator based on flat triangular piezoelectric patches. Applying a difference of electric potential between the electrodes of a triangular patch leads to point loads at the tips and distributed moments along the edges of the electrodes. The previously derived analytical expressions of these forces show that they depend on two factors: the width over height (b/l) ratio of the triangle, and the ratio of the in-plane piezoelectric properties ($e_{31}/e_{32}$) of the active layer of the piezoelectric patch. In this paper, it is shown that by a proper choice of b/l and of the piezoelectric properties, the moments can be cancelled, so that if one side of the triangle is clamped, a perfect point load actuation can be achieved. This requires $e_{31}/e_{32}$ to be negative, which imposes the use of interdigitated electrodes instead of continuous ones. The design of two transducers with interdigitated electrodes for perfect point load actuation on a clamped plate is verified with finite element calculations. The first design is based on a full piezoelectric ceramic patch and shows superior actuation performance than the second design based on a piezocomposite patch with a volume fraction of fibres of 86%. The results show that both designs lead to perfect point load actuation while the use of an isotropic PZT patch with continuous electrodes gives significantly different results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.324-330
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• 2012

In this paper, we presents a robust control system design for compensating hysteresis of a piezoelectric actuator-based actuation unit. First, the dynamics between the input voltage and the output displacement of the actuation unit are unravelled via a non-parametric system identification method. From the dynamic characteristics of those experimental transfer functions, a parametric model is then derived, whose dynamics match those of the non-parametric ones under various conditions on input voltages. A robust controller is constructed on the basis of this parametric model in order not only to effectively compensate the hysteresis of the actuation unit but also to guarantee the robust stability. Extensive experiments show that the proposed robust control system successfully mitigate the effect of the hysteresis and improve the tracking capability of the actuation unit.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.67-84
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• 2008

The present contribution is concerned with the static and dynamic stability of a piezo-laminated Bernoulli-Euler beam subjected to an axial compressive force. Recently, an inconsistent derivation of the equations of motions of such a smart structural system has been presented in the literature, where it has been claimed, that an axial piezoelectric actuation can be used to control its stability. The main scope of the present paper is to show that this unfortunately is impossible. We present a consistent theory for composite beams in plane bending. Using an exact description of the kinematics of the beam axis, together with the Bernoulli-Euler assumptions, we obtain a single-layer theory capable of taking into account the effects of piezoelectric actuation and buckling. The assumption of an inextensible beam axis, which is frequently used in the literature, is discussed afterwards. We show that the cited inconsistent beam model is due to inadmissible mixing of the assumptions of an inextensible beam axis and a vanishing axial displacement, leading to the erroneous result that the stability might be enhanced by an axial piezoelectric actuation. Our analytical formulations for simply supported Bernoulli-Euler type beams are verified by means of three-dimensional finite element computations performed with ABAQUS.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.189-206
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• 2012

This paper focuses on the actuation system combined with a piezoelectric transducer and an electric circuit, which leads to a new insight; the electric actuation system is equivalent to mechanical variable-stiffness actuation systems. By controlling the switch in the circuit, the electric status of the piezoelectric transducer is changed, and consequently a variable-stiffness mechanism is achieved on the electric actuator. This proposed actuator features a shift in the equilibrium point of force, while conventional electrically-induced variable-stiffness actuators feature the variation of the stiffness value. We intensively focus on the equilibrium shift in the actuation system, which has been neglected. The stiffness of the variable-stiffness actuator is periodically modulated by controlling the switch, to suppress the vibration of the system in an open-loop way. It is proved that this electric actuator is equivalent to its mechanical counterpart, and that the electrical version has some practical advantages over the mechanical one. Furthermore, another kind of electrically-induced variable-stiffness actuator, using an energy-recycling mechanism is also discussed from the viewpoint of open-loop vibration control. Extensive numerical simulations provide comprehensive assessment on both electrically-induced variable-stiffness actuators employed for open-loop vibration control.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.55-80
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• 2014

The present work pays emphasis on investigating the effect of different types of debonding on the bending behaviour of active sandwich beam, consisting of both extension and shear actuators. An active sandwich beam finite element is formulated by using Timoshenko's beam theory, characterized by first order shear deformation for the core and Euler-Bernoulli's beam theory for the top and bottom faces. The problem of debondings of extension actuator and face are dealt with by employing four-region model for inner debonding and three-region model for the edge debonding respectively. Displacement based continuity conditions are enforced at the interfaces of different regions using penalty method. Firstly, piezoelectric actuation of healthy sandwich beam is assessed through deflection analysis. Then the effect of actuators' debondings with different boundary conditions on bending behavior is computationally evaluated and experimentally clamped-free case is validated. The results generated will be useful to address the damage tolerant design procedures for smart sandwich beam structures with structural control and health monitoring applications.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.18-33
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• 2008

This paper presents design optimization of a new Active Twist Rotor (ATR) blade and conducts its aeroelastic analysis in forward flight condition. In order to improve a twist actuation performance, the present ATR blade utilizes a single crystal piezoelectric fiber composite actuator and the blade cross-sectional layout is designed through an optimization procedure. The single crystal piezoelectric fiber composite actuator has excellent piezoelectric strain performance when compared with the previous piezoelectric fiber composites such as Active Fiber Composites (AFC) and Macro Fiber Composites (MFC). Further design optimization gives a cross-sectional layout that maximizes the static twist actuation while satisfying various blade design requirements. After the design optimization is completed successfully, an aeroelastic analysis of the present ATR blade in forward flight is conducted to confirm the efficiency in reducing the vibratory loads at both fixed- and rotating-systems. Numerical simulation shows that the present ATR blade utilizing single crystal piezoelectric fiber composites may reduce the vibratory loads significantly even with much lower input-voltage when compared with that used in the previous ATR blade. However, for an application of the present single crystal piezoelectric actuator to a full scaled rotor blade, several issues exist. Difficulty of manufacturing in a large size and severe brittleness in its material characteristics will need to be examined.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.152-157
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• 2001

An ultraprecision rotary motor is developed using inchworm motion of two belts actuated by elongation of piezoelectric elements. A symmetric lever mechanism with flexure hinges is designed to connect belts with piezoelectric elements. The lever mechanism is used not only to amplify the elongation of piezoelectric element but also to minimize the numbers of components and the effort for assembly. By experiment, the rotational angle by one cycle is varied from $0.2{\times}10-4 rad to 9.76{\times}10-4$ rad depending on input signal amplitude. Further, the motor has the capability of getting more precise rotational resolution by enlarging the radius of the rotor.