Screw-type actuator driven by piezoelectric transducers

Abstract

The significant features of screw transmission are effort-saving and self-locking. Based on this, a screw-rod-type actuator is proposed, which is driven by a nut swung spirally together with piezoelectric transducers. The actuator consists of three parts: a nut fastened to a hollow cylinder, a precise screw rod, and two orthogonal piezoelectric vibrators worked on d 33 mode. The screw rod is forced to rotate and translate by traveling wave within the helical surface of nut, which is generated by two vibrators. First, the actuator's running mechanism is preliminarily illustrated. Second, modal analysis and optimal design of the stator are performed through finite element method. Finally, the prototype actuator is manufactured and tested. The experimental results have proven that this driving manner is feasible, and the main characteristics are as follows: the stable working frequency is about at 9.5 kHz, and the maximum no-load speed and output force are approximately 61 r/min and 2.1 N, respectively, under 300 V pp .

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