Improvements of Piezo-Actuated Stick–Slip Micro-Drives: Modeling and Driving Waveform

Modeling and waveform optimization are important research topics for piezo-actuated stick–slip micro-drives. In this paper, the dynamics of piezo-actuated stick–slip micro-drives (PASSMDs) are theoretically investigated. We introduce an extended model taking the dynamics of the piezo actuators into account. The model combines the whole macroscopic movement of the drive’s runner and actuators and the microscopic behavior of the frictional contacts in a hybrid dynamic simulation. The macroscopic movements are described via Newtonian mechanics, while the microscopic behavior is computed using the method of dimensionality reduction. Two important characteristics of the drive, the critical actuation amplitude and the force generation, are systematically analyzed. The numerical simulation results show a fine agreement with experimental data of the previously published work. The critical actuation amplitude is found to depend on the behavior of the guiding contacts, the dynamics of the actuators and their interaction. Furthermore, a novel driving waveform, which allows us to increase the operational velocity for the drive, is proposed. The waveform is derived by exploiting micro-vibration and considering the dynamic contact status. Simulation results show that the average velocity of the drive is heightened by about 15 % . The performance of the drive is therefore improved.