High Performance ‘‘V-stack’’ Piezoelectric Actuator

A comparative analysis of the state-of-the-art actuators is conducted. A new piezoelectric actuator design is presented. It is compact, simple, sturdy, and leverages stroke geometrically with minimum force penalties. The ‘‘V-stack Piezoelectric Actuator’’ consists of a base, a lever, two piezoelectric stacks, and a pretensioning element. Work is performed alternately by the two stacks placed on each side of the lever. Pre-tensioning can be readily applied using a torque wrench, making, elastic elements unnecessary; this is for the benefit of the stiffness of the actuator. The characteristics of the actuator (output force and stroke) can be easily modified by changing the base, the length of the stacks, or the distance between actuator’s output point and lever’s pivoting point. A prototype has been constructed and experimentally tested to validate the theoretical model.