Elastic contact conditions to optimize friction drive of surface acoustic wave motor

The optimum pressing force, namely the preload, for a slider to obtain superior operation conditions in a surface acoustic wave motor have been examined. We used steel balls as sliders. The preload was controlled using a permanent magnet. The steel balls were 0.5, 1, and 2 mm diameter, with the differences in diameter making it possible to change contact conditions, such as the contact pressure, contact area, and deformation of the stator and the slider. The stator transducer was lithium niobate, 128 degrees rotated, y-cut x-propagation substrate. The driving frequency of the Rayleigh wave was about 10 MHz. Hence, the particle vibration amplitude at the surface is as small as 10 nm. For superior friction drive conditions, a high contact pressure was required. For example, in the case of the 1 mm diameter steel ball at the sinusoidal driving voltage of 180 V(peak), the slider speed was 43 cm/sec, the thrust output force was 1 mN, and the acceleration was 23 times as large as the gravitational acceleration at a contact pressure of 390 MPa. From the Hertz theory of contact stress, the contact area radius was only 3 mum. The estimation of the friction drive performance was carried out from the transient traveling distance of the slider in a 3 msec burst drive. As a result, the deformation of the stator and the slider by the preload should be half of the vibration amplitude. This condition was independent of the ball diameter and the vibration amplitude. The output thrust per square millimeter was 50 N, and the maximum speed was 0.7 m/sec. From these results, we conclude that it is possible for the surface acoustic wave motor to have a large output force, high speed, quick response, long traveling distance, and a thin micro linear actuator.     

Simulation of surface acoustic wave motor with spherical slider

The operation of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) motor using spherical-shaped sliders was demonstrated by Kurosawa et al. (1994). It was necessary to modify the previous simulation models for usual ultrasonic motors because of this slider shape and the high frequency vibration. A conventional ultrasonic motor has a flat contact surface slider and a hundredth driving frequency; so, the tangential motion caused by the elasticity of the slider and stator with regard to the spherical slider of the SAW motor requires further investigation. In this paper, a dynamic simulation model for the SAW motor is proposed. From the simulation result, the mechanism of the SAW motor was clarified (i.e., levitation and contact conditions were repeated during the operation). The transient response of the motor speed was simulated. The relationships between frictional factor and time constant and vibration velocity of the stator and the slider speed were understood. The detailed research regarding the elastic deformation caused by preload would be helpful to construct an exact simulation model for the next work.     

新型箝位式压电电机的设计研究

针对传统箝位式压电电机在谐振态下工作时,方波振动的箝位部分结构设计复杂问题,提出一种新型箝位式压电电机。该电机箝位部分与驱动部分均由同频正弦电压驱动实现正弦振动,通过定子对动子的箝位接触,实现动子单向输出运动。相较于传统箝位式压电电机和超声电机,该电机的定子结构设计无需采用模态简并,结构设计难度降低。利用有限元仿真确定定、动子结构参数,制造样机并搭建实验平台。对箝位部分分别采用正弦波与方波做激励,再对驱动部分进行波形对比,表明正弦波亦能达到预期效果。实验结果表明:准静态时,激励电压频率为250Hz、电压峰峰值Vp-p为10V时,步进距离为0.5μm,步进速度0.13mm/s;谐振态时,激励电压频率为540Hz、电压峰峰值Vp-p为70V时,步进距离为32μm,步进速度16.9mm/s;该电机可兼顾低频高分辨率和高频高速输出以实现跨尺度工作。     

Superthreshold behavior and threshold estimates ofultrasound-induced lung hemorrhage in adult rats: role of beamwidth

It is well documented that ultrasound-induced lung hemorrhage can occur in mice, rats, rabbits, pigs, and monkeys. The objective of this study was to assess the role of the ultrasound beamwidth (beam diameter incident on the lung surface) on lesion threshold and size. A total of 144 rats were randomly exposed to pulsed ultrasound at three exposure levels and four beamwidths (12 rats per group). The three in situ peak rarefactional pressures were about 5, 7.5, and 10 MPa. The four 19-mm-diameter focused transducers had measured pulse-echo -6-dB focal beamwidths of 470 μm (2.8 MHz; f/1), 930 μm (2.8 MHz; f/2), 310 μm (5.6 MHz; f/1), and 510 μm (5.6 MHz; f/2). Exposure durations were 10 s, pulse repetition frequencies were 1 kHz, and pulse durations were 1.3 μs (2.8 MHz; f/1), 1.2 μs (2.8 MHz; f/2), 0.8 μs (5.6 MHz; f/1) and 1.1 μs (5.6 MHz; f/2). The lesion surface area and depth were measured for each rat as well as the percentage of rats with lesions per group. Logistic regression analysis and Gaussian-Tobit analysis methods were used to analyze the data. The effects of in situ peak rarefactional pressure and beamwidth were highly significant, but ultrasonic frequency was not significant. In addition, the estimated interaction between in situ peak rarefactional pressure and beamwidth was positive and highly significant. The ultrasound beamwidth incident on the lung surface was shown to strongly affect the percentage and size of ultrasound-induced lung hemorrhage lesions. Even though ultrasonic frequency was an experimental variable, it was not shown to affect the lesion percentage or size     

Magneto-impedance element

The magneto-impedance (MI) effect is a phenomenon in which the voltage induced by a high frequency current source in a ferromagnetic wire changes with the application of an external field. A giant MI effect was found in amorphous magnetic wires having a composition of (Fe _0.06Co_0.94)_72.5Si_12.5B ₁₅ and a magnetostriction of (-10^-7). The amplitude of the wire voltage decreased by 40% at 1 MHz, 60% (600 kHz) and 50% (150 kHz), for wires having diameters 30 μm, 50 μm and 124 μm, respectively, under the influence of an external longitudinal field of about 10 Oe (800 A/m). A highly sensitive and quick-response field sensor was constructed using a 200 MHz resonant multivibrator bridge-circuit combining two MI-effect elements of 1 mm length with two field effect transistors (FET). Highly sensitive flux detection was carried out by using the small MI sensor head on a rotary encoder magnet having 512 poles and a diameter of 30 mm. Discussion of a mechanism for the MI effect considers the skin effect in an amorphous wire with high circumferential anisotropy     

Fabrication of high frequency spherically shaped ceramictransducers

Difficulty in obtaining well focused efficient ultrasound transducers has limited the development of new high frequency applications of B-mode imaging. This paper describes a method for fabricating high frequency (53 MHz) spherically focused lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers. A transducer is fabricated by bonding a malleable backing layer onto a thin plate of PZT and then pressing the plate into a spherically shaped well. The backing layer evenly distributes stresses across the material when it is pressed into the well. Local concentrations of stress which lead to fracture are avoided and the material can be deformed without macroscopic cracking. The characteristics of a 2 mm diameter 53 MHz PZT transducer with a 4 mm focal length are described. A lateral beam width of 68 μm and a 12 dB depth of field of 1.5 mm were obtained. The minimum two-way insertion loss of the system was -25 dB and the 6 dB bandwidth of the pulse echo response was 30%. An image of a resolution phantom and an in vivo skin image illustrate the excellent imaging characteristics of the transducer     

Wideband spherically focused PVDF acoustic sources for calibration of ultrasound hydrophone probes

Several broadband sources have been developed for the purpose of calibrating hydrophones. The specific configuration described is intended for the calibration of hydrophones In a frequency range of 1 to 40 MHz. All devices used 25 /spl mu/m film of PVDF bonded to a matched backing. Two had radii of curvatures (ROC) of 25.4 and 127 mm with f numbers of 3.8 and 19, respectively. Their active element diameter was 0.28 in (6.60 mm). The active diameter of the third source used was 25 mm, and it had an ROC of 254 mm and an f number of 10. The use of a focused element minimized frequency-dependent diffraction effects, resulting in a smooth variation of acoustic pressure at the focus from 1 to 40 MHz. Also, using a focused PVDF source permitted calibrations above 20 MHz without resorting to harmonic generation via nonlinear propagation.     

研磨介质对片状羰基铁结构及电磁性能的影响

分别以直径为6、1.5 mm的ZrO2磨球作为搅拌磨研磨介质制备片状羰基铁,对比研究这两种磨球对制备片状羰基铁的结构及电磁性能的影响。结果表明:采用直径为6 mm的ZrO2磨球所制备的羰基铁粉颗粒具有片状结构;而采用直径为1.5 mm的ZrO2磨球制备的羰基铁粉颗粒形状不规则,表面粗糙。研磨24 h时,采用直径为6 mm的ZrO2磨球所制备片状羰基铁粉微波吸收材料在2~18 GHz频段的反射率超过-15 dB的带宽为5 GHz,最大反射率为-30 dB。     

A single vibration mode tubular piezoelectric ultrasonic motor

A novel tubular ultrasonic motor is presented that uses only a single vibration bending mode of a piezoelectric tube to generate rotation. When the piezoelectric tube bends, the diagonal motion of points on selected areas at the ends of the tube generates forces with tangential components along the same circumferential direction, driving the rotors to rotate. Bi-directional motion is achieved by simply switching the direction of bending. Because only one vibration mode is used, the motor requires only one driving signal and no vibration mode coupling is needed, simplifying the design, fabrication, assembly, and operation of the device. Two prototypes [one with cut-in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) teeth and one with added metal teeth] were built and tested using PZT tubes available to the authors. The tubes have an outside diameter of 6.6 mm, inner diameter of 5.0 mm, and length of 25.4 mm. The working frequencies of the two motors are 27.6 and 23.5 kHz. The motors achieved a maximum no-load speed of 400 rpm and a stall torque of 300 μN·m.     

Friction drive of an SAW Motor. Part I: measurements

The surface acoustic wave motor in this study utilized transparent lithium niobate for a stator. We then measured the normal and tangential displacements of the frictional surface of the slider via the transparent stator by means of 2 laser Doppler vibrometers. We thoroughly inspected the measurement conditions and indicated that the measured data were reliable and usable for subsequent precise analyses of the friction drive. The driving conditions for the measurements were a driving frequency of 9.61 MHz and a wave vibration amplitude of 20 nm. The start-up transients of the motor for a duration of 10.4 micros were measured. The measurements showed that the frictional surface of the slider displaced in both the normal and tangential directions followed each wave vibration. The displacements increased with the wave's vibration amplitude: they increased to 10 nm in both directions, in response to the transient increase of the wave's vibration amplitude to 20 nm, under the 15 N preload condition. Moreover, the slider surface rotated in the same direction as the wave surface and its trajectories were a tilted elliptical orbit. Since the surface of the wave rotated in an upright elliptical orbit, the result indicated that the tangential displacement of the slider surface was delayed in relation to that of the wave. The delay was in the range from 30 degrees to 60 degrees under the 15 N preload condition.     

高测速双频激光干涉仪及其性能检测

新型驱动电机和高速传动器件的发展使得数控机床和三坐标测量机等的运行速度已经达到1000mm/s，而目前商用外差干涉仪的测量速度不能完全满足这一要求。为此，研制了一种基于5MHz频差双频激光器的高测速干涉仪，理论上的最高测量速度可达1580mm／s。通过实验对测量速度和计数频率进行了检测，结果证明，这种干涉仪可以达到的最高测量速度为980mm／s，外触发计数频率达11kHz。     

A traveling-wave, modified ring linear piezoelectric microactuator with enclosed piezoelectric elements--the "scream" actuator

A 1.8 cc silent bidirectional traveling-wave, self-moving linear microactuator is shown to be capable of generating a sliding velocity of 0.22 m/s and sliding force of 1.1 N. Through the use of computational analysis in the actuator's design, the vibration characteristics were improved in order to obtain a better actuator. The generation of a radial traveling wave about the circumference of the actuator, akin to a ring, is shown to exist despite the unusual shape, and the presence of traveling wave motion along the output face also is shown to exist. By using short-time sinusoidal signals, slider displacements as small as 82 nm were obtained from the actuator, and by using direct current (DC) input, displacements of up to /spl plusmn/107 nm were obtained, suggesting a way to obtain subnanometer positioning accuracy over arbitrary sliding distances. By reversing the phase between the paired driving signals, the direction of motion was reversed at up to 300 Hz; the slider displacement and velocity was found to be inversely proportional to the phase-reversal rate, and the slider's peak velocity and maximum thrust force were directly proportional to the phase between the driving signals. The output force and velocity of the actuator was fairly insensitive to the input frequency, giving measurable motion between 132.5 and 141.5 kHz, but was sensitive to the input voltage, requiring at least 38 V input for operation, and was approximately quadratically dependent on the applied preload centered about 2.25 N.     

Acoustic microscopy: a study of contrast in fresh tissue

The scanning laser acoustic microscope (SLAM), which exhibits a resolution of about 15 μm in biological materials, was operated at a frequency of 100 MHz to evaluate the source of image contrast. Specifically, the SLAM's quantitative capabilities yielded the ultrasonic propagation properties of attenuation coefficient and propagation speed of rat brain tissue (white versus gray matter) and these properties mere correlated with tissue constituents and image contrast. The SLAM's image contrast between the two brain layers in both fresh and fixed specimens was analyzed subjectively by an experienced microscopist. It was determined that ethanol fixation decreased the image contrast between the brain layers. Additionally, the propagation speed was the least affected property in the fresh tissue specimens yet increased in both brain layers after fixation whereas the attenuation coefficient of white matter in unfixed brain tissue was higher than that of gray matter. These results indicate that the SLAM's acoustic image contrast is a direct reflection of the difference in attenuation coefficient whereas the propagation speed is not a significant contributor to the image contrast     

Development of thin-film multijunction thermal converters atPTB/IPHT

The thin-film multijunction thermal converter (PMJTC) developed in cooperation between Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and Institut fur Physikalische Hochtechnologie e.V. (IPHT) is today's most sensitive and accurate standard for the precise measurement of electrical AC quantities in the frequency range of 10 Hz-1 MHz. Thin-film technology and micromechanics in silicon were essential for this success. The thin-film heater and bismuth/antimony thermocouples with high Seebeck effect deposited on a thin membrane of low heat conductance result in the attractively high sensitivity of the PMJTC which allows voltage measurements down to 100 mV to be performed. The statistics of the mass production of the PMJTCs show that PMJTCs built into a housing with an N-connector at the input can be reproducebly manufactured with an AC-DC voltage transfer difference smaller than 0.1 μV/V at 1 kHz, 8 μV/V up to 100 kHz, and below 40 μV/V up to 1 MHz for a heater resistance of 90 Ω. A compensation circuit has been added on the chip which results in low-frequency PMJTCs (LF-PMJTCs) with AC-DC transfer differences below 0.3 μV/V at 10 Hz     

Driving mechanism, design, fabrication process, and experiments of a cylindrical ultrasonic linear microactuator

A new type of cylindrical ultrasonic linear microactuator (CULMA) is introduced. The traveling wave generation condition in the stator is presented, which was confirmed using simulation and experimentation. The design and fabrication process to develop the stator is described. The stator was successfully fabricated using metallic glass and a sputtering method, and the vibration of the prototype matched the simulation results. When the driving frequency is at 626 kHz, the traveling wave in the stator was observed. Loaded with a pipe slider, the slider movement was experimentally demonstrated and the motion measured with 26 mm/s in peak speed. This paper presents a traveling wave generation method in a CULMA which would also available in other microactuators or MEMS-scale ones.     

A standing wave-type noncontact linear ultrasonic motor

In this study, a novel standing wave-type noncontact linear ultrasonic motor is proposed and analyzed. This linear ultrasonic motor uses a properly controlled ultrasonic standing wave to levitate and drive a slider. A prototype of the motor was constructed by using a wedge-shaped aluminum stator, which was placed horizontally and driven by a multilayer PZT vibrator. The levitation and motion of the slider were observed. Assuming that the driving force was generated by the turbulent acoustic streaming in the boundary air layer next to the bottom surface of the slider, a theoretical model was developed. The calculated characteristics of this motor were found to agree quite well with the experimental results. Based on the experimental and theoretical results, guidelines for increasing the displacement and speed of the slider were obtained. It was found that increasing the stator vibration displacement, or decreasing the gradient of the stator vibration velocity and the weight per unit area of the slider, led to an increase of the slider displacement. It was also found that increasing the amplitude and gradient of the stator vibration velocity, or decreasing the weight per unit area of the slider and the driving frequency, gave rise to an increase of the slider speed. There exists an optimum roughness of the bottom surface of the slider at which the slider speed has a maximum     

Reciprocating sliding friction and contact stress of some thermoplastics against steel

This study considers the sliding friction in reciprocating motion, plane on plane and dry contact between very smooth surface of a steel slider and three engineering thermoplastics: ultrahigh-molecular weight polyethylene, polyoxymethylene and PA 66. Dynamic coefficients of friction were accurately measured at ranges of apparent contact pressure varying between 25 and 800 kPa and sliding speed between 0.01 and 0.1 m s^-1, using plastic samples whose surface roughness was fully characterized. The frictional behaviours in reciprocating motion were found to be equivalent to those reported by previous workers who have tested similar materials in continuous motion. These results were used in the evaluation of non-Hertzian elastic contact stresses considering a simplified model of cylindrical tips of asperities of plastic materials making contact with a polished and hard semi-infinite plane. Fatigue failure analysis was conducted and the combination of the Marin equation and the Soderberg fatigue failure criterion used to evaluate the factor of safety. The results of this analysis were summarized graphically in the form of load–frequency capabilities that represent the onset of excessive fatigue wear for each plastic material. Scanning electron microscopy observations of worn plastic samples enabled the illustration of the mechanism of formation of wear particles in the case of the present tribological system. The results of the qualitative evaluation of the amount of wear showed the importance of the decrease in normal load in order to increase the factor of safety, despite the increase in the coefficient of friction so induced for most thermoplastics. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于 ADAMS 的推烟机构推手中曲柄滑块机构的动态研究

目的研究在理论条件下,推烟机构推手装置中曲柄滑块机构的动态运动情况。方法借助动力学分析软件ADAMS对曲柄滑块机构进行研究,分析其运动学曲线和动力学曲线。结果直观形象地仿真出了曲柄滑块的运动情况。结论通过对相同速度下推手中曲柄滑块的研究,获得了其位移、速度、加速度的曲线图,并研究了当曲柄受到临界载荷F=80 kN的阻力时,其驱动力矩的大小和方向的变化情况,最终获知当阻力改变方向时驱动力矩恰为0。     

Standing wave bi-directional linearly moving ultrasonic motor

A standing wave bi-directional linearly moving ultrasonic motor has been studied for the purpose of implementing a practical linear ultrasonic motor with simple structure, simple driving and high resolution. The fundamental principle of this linear motor is projections on the right sides of a standing wave crests generating thrust force right-diagonally on the slider pressed against the projections. Correspondingly, projections on the left sides of the wave crests make the slider move toward the left. In order to realize bi-directional actuating, vibration mode B3 or B4 is excited in a rectangular plate-type vibrator to make the projections on the right sides or the left sides of the wave crests. In this paper, the operation principle of the linear motor is demonstrated. Furthermore, a prototype linear ultrasonic motor of 40 mm in length, 10 mm in width is fabricated and investigated. The following performances have been achieved: maximum speed 200 mm/s, maximum force output 150 gf, and resolution less than 0.1 mum.     

An elasticity microscope. Part II: Experimental results

For pt.I see ibid., vol.44, no.6, pp.1304-19 (1997). Initial experimental results from a 50 MHz elasticity microscope are shown. Using methods discussed previously, we present measured displacement and normal axial strain fields from a tissue mimicking phantom. Results from this homogenous gel are compared to a finite element simulation of the deformation experiment. The spatial resolution is estimated to be approximately 52 μm for axial displacements, and 71 μm for normal axial strains. These estimates were further tested by imaging a phantom containing a hard cylindrical inclusion with cross-sectional diameter of 265 μm. By examining the strain transition between regions in this image, the spatial resolution of the normal axial strain was verified to be at most 88 μm. A typical experiment produces peak normal axial strain around 3%. These experiments demonstrate the potential of high frequency ultrasound as a means for elasticity microscopy. Preliminary deformation experiments are presented on porcine epidermis