The characteristics of a precision inchworm-type piezoelectric actuator with vertical movement

In order to provide the basic theory and reference for the vertical actuator, a precision piezoelectric actuator is designed in the paper. Firstly, working principle and mechanical design are presented. Then motion principles of this actuator are investigated. Finally some characteristics are analyzed including output characteristics, load characteristics and frequency characteristics. The research results reveal that, the step distance is adjustable, and it can reach 1.4μm when the drive voltage is 120V. By gravity, the step distance of crawling up is less than crawling down. With the increasing of the driving voltage, the actuator load capacity is on linear growth. The displacement of actuator has a non-linear relationship with the frequency of drive signals. To sum up, the vertical actuator is a stable but multivariable system, the performance of their campaigns is affected by a variety of factors.