Development of a multi-drive-mode piezoelectric linear actuator with parallel-arrangement dual stator

To realize the performance of large stroke, smooth motion with less wear, and high positioning resolution, a non-resonant piezoelectric linear actuator based on a parallel-arrangement dual stator was developed in this study. The proposed actuator could achieve the multi-drive mode with different voltage signals, including co-drive, alternate-drive, and precision positioning mode. A prototype was fabricated, and a series of experiments were tested to evaluate its output performance under three driving modes. The experimental results indicated that, under the alternate-drive mode, when a voltage of 50 Vp-p and a preload of 8.6 N were applied to the proposed actuator, a no-load speed of 0.06-1.2 mm/s at driving frequencies of 10-500 Hz and a stepping displacement of 1.8 mu m at 1 Hz were achieved; A maximum thrust of 7.3 N at 100 Hz and a maximum no-load speed of 16.1 mm/s at 3000 Hz were obtained under a voltage of 100 Vp-p and a preload of 20.8 N. Moreover, under the precision positioning mode, the nanoscale positioning resolutions of 156 and 172 nm in forward and reverse motions were achieved, respectively. Thus, the proposed actuator is expected to be applied for driving the aperture of a scanning electron microscope.