Experimental Design and Construction of a Flextensional Ultrasonic Piezoelectric Micro-Motor

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental design and construction of a new type of standing wave piezoelectric ultrasonic micro-motor. The motor, which is based on a meso-scale prototype [1–3], uses a metallic cymbal to convert the contour mode vibrations of a piezoelectric plate into vertical oscillations. These are further converted by means of an elastic-fin friction drive to produce rotary actuation. The motor operates on a single-phase electrical supply and direct control of the output speed and torque can be achieved by adjusting the amplitude and frequency of the supply voltage.

Keywords:

• Ultrasonic
• piezoelectric
• flextensional
• micro-fabrication
• electrolytic
• MEMS
• cymbal
• standing-wave
• elastic-fin

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant number GR/N 34017 and BAE Systems (Advanced Technology Centre, Sowerby UK).