Wang Xinjie, Wang Gen
School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
Micromachines (Basel). 2024 Sep 27;15(10):1197. doi: 10.3390/mi15101197.
The locomotion mechanisms and structural characteristics of insects in nature offer new perspectives and solutions for designing miniature actuators. Inspired by the underwater movement of aquatic beetles, this paper presents a bidirectional self-propelled linear piezoelectric micro-actuator (SLPMA), whose maximum size in three dimensions is currently recognized as the smallest known of the self-propelled piezoelectric linear micro-actuators. Through the superposition of two bending vibration modes, the proposed actuator generates an elliptical motion trajectory at its driving feet. The size was determined as 15 mm × 12.8 mm × 5 mm after finite element analysis (FEA) through modal and transient simulations. A mathematical model was established to analyze and validate the feasibility of the proposed design. Finally, a prototype was fabricated, and an experimental platform was constructed to test the driving characteristics of the SLPMA. The experimental results showed that the maximum no-load velocity and maximum carrying load of the prototype in the forward motion were 17.3 mm/s and 14.8 mN, respectively, while those in the backward motion were 20.5 mm/s and 15.9 mN, respectively.
自然界中昆虫的运动机制和结构特征为微型致动器的设计提供了新的视角和解决方案。受水生甲虫水下运动的启发，本文提出了一种双向自驱动线性压电微致动器（SLPMA），其三维最大尺寸目前被认为是已知自驱动压电线性微致动器中最小的。通过两种弯曲振动模式的叠加，所提出的致动器在其驱动脚处产生椭圆形运动轨迹。经过模态和瞬态模拟的有限元分析（FEA）后，确定尺寸为15 mm×12.8 mm×5 mm。建立了数学模型来分析和验证所提出设计的可行性。最后，制作了一个原型，并构建了一个实验平台来测试SLPMA的驱动特性。实验结果表明，该原型在向前运动时的最大空载速度和最大承载载荷分别为17.3 mm/s和14.8 mN，而在向后运动时分别为20.5 mm/s和15.9 mN。
