Design and fabrication of a high-speed linear piezoelectric actuator with nanometer resolution using a cantilever transducer

A high-speed linear piezoelectric actuator with nanometer resolution using a cantilever transducer is designed, fabricated and tested. This actuator includes end cap, flange, fixed part, longitudinal and bending PZT ceramics. They are clamped to make up a cantilever transducer. The first longitudinal vibration and second bending vibration of the transducer are excited by two alternating current signals with a phase difference of 90°. Then, elliptical vibrations are formed on the driving foot and a high-speed linear motion of the slider is obtained under friction coupling effect. The actuator generates bending deformation when a direct current (DC) signal is applied to the bending PZT ceramics and a micro step with nanometer scale is achieved. The principles are illustrated in detail. Finite element method is used to confirm the desired vibration modes and analyze the motion characteristics of the actuator. A prototype is fabricated and it acquires the no-load speed of 593 mm s−1 under voltage of 300 Vp–p. The maximum output force of the actuator is tested as 30 N. The proposed actuator obtains a displacement resolution of 35 nm under DC voltage of 3 V. The tested results show that the proposed actuator has the abilities of fast and precise motions simultaneously.