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.     

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.     

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     

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.     

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.     

Friction drive of an SAW motor. Part II: analyses

The mechanics of the friction drive of a surface acoustic wave motor were investigated by means of contact mechanics theory. As a means to control the contact condition, the motor's slider had projections on its frictional surface. Assuming the projection was a rigid circular punch and the slider body was an elastic half-space allowed application of contact mechanics formulae to the analyses of the friction drive. Because the projection contacted the Rayleigh wave vibration, the projection's responses were considered dynamic; thus, the dynamics were also analyzed in the same framework of contact mechanics formulae. Moreover, the analyses were applied to measurements of the projection's displacement to examine the detailed mechanics during the friction drive. We calculated the contact/frictional forces based on the measurement and indicated the necessity of further investigation of the surface acoustic wave motor's friction drive, because the usual friction law was unable to explain the measurement.     

Vibration of a single microcapsule with a hard plastic shell in an acoustic standing wave field

Observation techniques for measuring the small vibration of a single microcapsule of tens of nanometers in an acoustic standing wave field are discussed. First, simultaneous optical observation of a microbubble vibration by two methods is investigated, using a high-speed video camera, which permits two-dimensional observation of the bubble vibration, and a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV), which can observe small bubble vibration amplitudes at high frequency. Bubbles of tens of micrometers size were trapped at the antinode of an acoustic standing wave generated in an observational cell. Bubble vibration at 27 kHz could be observed and the experimental results for the two methods showed good agreement. The radial vibration of microcapsules with a hard plastic shell was observed using the LDV and the measurement of the capsule vibration with radial oscillation amplitude of tens of nanometers was successful. The acoustic radiation force acting on microcapsules in the acoustic standing wave was measured from the trapped position of the standing wave and the radial oscillation amplitude of the capsules was estimated from the theoretical equation of the acoustic radiation force, giving results in good agreement with the LDV measurements. The radial oscillation amplitude of a capsule was found to be proportional to the amplitude of the driving sound pressure. A larger expansion ratio was observed for capsules closer to the resonance condition under the same driving sound pressure and frequency.     

A self-running standing wave-type bidirectional slider for the ultrasonically levitated thin linear stage

A slider for a self-running standing wave-type, ultrasonically levitated, thin linear stage is discussed. The slider can be levitated and moved using acoustic radiation force and acoustic streaming. The slider has a simple configuration and consists of an aluminum vibrating plate and a piezoelectric zirconate titanate (PZT) element. The large asymmetric vibration distribution for the high thrust and levitation performance was obtained by adjusting the configuration determined by finite elemental analysis (FEA). As a preliminary step, the computed results of the sound pressure distribution in the 1-mm air gap by FEA was com pared with experimental results obtained using a fiber optic probe. The direction of the total driving force for the acoustic streaming in the small air gap was estimated by the sound pressure distribution calculated by FEA, and it was found that the direction of the acoustic streaming could be altered by controlling the vibration mode of the slider. The flexural standing wave could be generated along the vibrating plate near the frequencies predicted based on the FEA results. The slider could be levitated by the acoustic radiation force radiated from its own vibrating plate at several frequencies. The slider could be moved in the negative and positive directions at 68 kHz and 69 kHz, which correspond to the results computed by FEA, with the asymmetric vibration distribution of the slider's vibrating plate. Larger thrust could be obtained with the smaller levitation distance, and the maximum thrust was 19 mN.     

Lagrangian finite element treatment of transient vibration/acoustics of biosolids immersed in fluids

Superposition principle is used to separate the incident acoustic wave from the scattered and radiated waves in a displacement‐based finite element model. An absorbing boundary condition is applied to the perturbation part of the displacement. Linear constitutive equation allows for inhomogeneous, anisotropic materials, both fluids and solids. Displacement‐based finite elements are used for all materials in the computational volume. Robust performance for materials with limited compressibility is achieved using assumed‐strain nodally integrated simplex elements or incompatible‐mode brick elements. A centered‐difference time‐stepping algorithm is formulated to handle general damping accurately and efficiently. Verification problems (response of empty steel cylinder immersed in water to a step plane wave, and scattering of harmonic plane waves from an elastic sphere) are discussed for assumed‐strain simplex and for voxel‐based brick finite element models. A voxel‐based modeling scheme for complex biological geometries is described, and two illustrative results are presented from the bioacoustics application domain: reception of sound by the human ear and simulation of biosonar in beaked whales. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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 ultrasonically levitated noncontact stage using traveling vibrations on precision ceramic guide rails

This paper presents a noncontact sliding table design and measurements of its performance via ultrasonic levitation. A slider placed atop two vibrating guide rails is levitated by an acoustic radiation force emitted from the rails. A flexural traveling wave propagating along the guide rails allows noncontact transportation of the slider. Permitting a transport mechanism that reduces abrasion and dust generation with an inexpensive and simple structure. The profile of the sliding table was designed using the finite-element analysis (FEA) for high levitation and transportation efficiency. The prototype sliding table was made of alumina ceramic (Al2O3) to increase machining accuracy and rigidity using a structure composed of a pair of guide rails with a triangular cross section and piezoelectric transducers. Two types of transducers were used: bolt-clamped Langevin transducers and bimorph transducers. A 40-mm long slider was designed to fit atop the two rail guides. Flexural standing waves and torsional standing waves were observed along the guide rails at resonance, and the levitation of the slider was obtained using the flexural mode even while the levitation distance was less than 10 microm. The levitation distance of the slider was measured while increasing the slider's weight. The levitation pressure, rigidity, and vertical displacement amplitude of the levitating slider thus were measured to be 6.7 kN/m2, 3.0 kN/microm/m2, and less than 1 microm, respectively. Noncontact transport of the slider was achieved using phased drive of the two transducers at either end of the vibrating guide rail. By controlling the phase difference, the slider transportation direction could be switched, and a maximum thrust of 13 mN was obtained.     

Stepping-Motor-Driven Constant-Shear-Rate Rotating Viscometer

Despite the frequent use of stepping motors in robotics, automation, and a variety of precision instruments, they can hardly be found in rotational viscometers. This paper proposes the use of a stepping motor to drive a conventional constant-shear-rate laboratory rotational viscometer to avoid the use of velocity sensor and gearbox and, thus, simplify the instrument design. To investigate this driving technique, a commercial rotating viscometer has been adapted to be driven by a bipolar stepping motor, which is controlled via a personal computer. Special circuitry has been added to microstep the stepping motor at selectable step sizes and to condition the torque signal. Tests have been carried out using the prototype to produce flow curves for two standard Newtonian fluids (920 and 12560 mPa middot s, both at 25degC). The flow curves have been obtained by employing several distinct microstep sizes within the shear rate range of 50-500 s^-1 . The results indicate the feasibility of the proposed driving technique.     

An improved dynamic model for angular contact ball bearings under constant preload

High-speed spindles are typically installed with angular contact ball bearings. This research has established a dynamic model for angular contact ball bearings under constant preload. By analyzing the constant preload mechanism, and the gyroscopic and centripetal forces, a dynamic non-linear model for angular contact ball bearings was proposed using Hertz contact theory. The model was solved by numerical iteration to obtain the dynamic parameters of an angular contact ball bearing which included: the dynamic normal contact force and contact angle, the maximum compressive stress and axial displacement, the contact pattern, stiffnesses, etc. To validate the model, a test device was designed which was equipped with a constant preloaded bearing group. By measuring the relative displacement of the bearings’ inner and outer rings under different conditions, the accuracy of the model was proved. This modeling method provided a theoretical basis for calculating bearing thermal characteristics, fatigue life, and an optimized radius of curvature of the bearing ring channel.     

Extracting Rayleigh Waves from Noise Using a Differential Optical Interferometer

This article introduces a new strategy for extracting Rayleigh waves from a noisy environment using a differential optical interferometer (DOI). The DOI consists of a bidirectional coupler; one arm, positioned over a test specimen, senses an acoustic signal immersed in noise while the other arm, positioned over an acoustic isolator, senses the noise alone. Analytical arguments show that when the coupler is designed properly, the phase shifts between the signals returning to a photodetector produce an intensity modulation that is directly proportional to the pure acoustic signal. The analysis is verified when the DOI is used to track the surface displacement of a piezoelectric transducer. Then, random noise is introduced into an aluminum test specimen using a motor equipped with a rotating eccentric cam. The DOI is used to subtract the relatively high-amplitude but low-frequency mechanical vibrations of the test surface from a combined signal that includes the desired Rayleigh wave. Finally, an experimental configuration is demonstrated which allows an acoustic signal to be extracted from noise of a similar frequency.     

步进电机在红外系统扫描机构中的应用

介绍了在红外系统中，采用步进电机作为扫描机构驱动元件，以Ｄ／Ａ数模转换器作细分方式的定频脉宽调制驱动方式，实现微机控制下的扫描机的构步距均匀稳定，满足红外系统分辨率的要求。     

Estimation of the squeeze film effect in a surface acoustic wave motor

This paper describes the air film characteristic in the interface between the slider and stator substrate of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) motor, and the difference of the squeeze film effect by the form of the slider. Because the vibration amplitude of the SAW motor is several 10 nm order, analysis of pressure was performed by using the molecular gas-film lubrication (MGL) equation. In the analysis, the MGL equation was split into advection phase and nonadvection phase, and calculation of advection and nonadvection phases was performed by using the cubic interpolated propagation (CIP) method and the finite difference method, respectively. From analysis results it was found that the time to steady pressure of air film depends on the radius of projection arranged on the contact surface of the slider. Also found was that the steady pressure in the interface does not depend on the radius and height of the projection, but it depends on the minimum spacing between the slider and the stator substrate.     

Ultrasonic linear motor using surface acoustic waves

The first success in the operation of an ultrasonic linear motor at HF band driving frequency using the Rayleigh wave is described. The substrate material is a 127.8° Y-cut LiNbO₃ wafer whose diameter is three inches. Four interdigital transducers (IDT's) are arranged to excite x- and y-propagation waves in both directions. The dimensions of the IDT are 25 mm aperture size, 400 μm pitch, 100 μm strip width, and 10 pairs. The operation area is about 25 mm square, The driving frequency is about 9.6 MHz in the x direction and about 9.1 MHz in the y direction. The most important point of the success is the shape of the contact surface and slider materials. For the contact materials, small balls about 1 mm in diameter are introduced to obtain sufficient contact pressure around 100 MPa. The use of ruby balls, steel balls, and tungsten carbide balls is investigated. Each slider has three balls to enable stable contact at three points. The maximum transfer speed is about 20 cm/s. The transfer speed is controllable by changing the driving voltage     

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。     

压电驱动器可控预紧力主轴设计及性能分析

可控预紧力主轴能够满足高速主轴在整个切削转速范围内热、动特性兼优的要求，已逐步成为智能主轴的重要发展方向。为弥补压电驱动器（piezoelectric actuator, PEA）可控预紧力主轴设计及选型方面的不足，提出一种具有分辨率高、响应快、对切削刚度影响小及结构紧凑等优点的PEA可控预紧力主轴结构。建立了静止状态和运行状态下的角接触球轴承刚度模型，并以此为基础建立了PEA可控预紧力主轴的等效力学模型，得到了预紧机构负载刚度随预紧位移的变化规律。然后，分析了PEA的输出特性，建立了预紧机构的实际输入输出模型，并通过该模型分析了初始预紧力和PEA刚度对预紧力控制区间的影响规律，进而提出了预紧机构设计选型原则。最后，应用提出的主轴结构和预紧机构设计选型原则设计了PEA可控预紧力主轴试验台。试验结果表明预紧力控制分辨率为1.5 N，阶跃响应时间为300 ms，验证了所建预紧机构实际输入输出模型的准确性；温度控制试验结果表明该主轴试验台具有良好的温度调控能力。研究结果可为实际工程中PEA可控预紧力主轴的设计提供指导。     

有限长叉指换能器激发表面波及体波声场的数值模拟

采用数值方法,模拟了有限长叉指换能器(IDT)在半无限大压电晶体中激发的表面波和体波声场在晶体界面上的分布情况。在数值模拟所得结果的基础上,将频率域内的位移分量做傅立叶反变换得到时间域内声波脉冲振幅随时间的分布,并对界面上三个位移分量含有的声波模式进行分析,其中场位移分量1沿波的传播方向,位移分量2为平行于IDT指条方向,位移分量3沿基片表面法线方向。分析结果表明,界面上各位移分量中除Rayleigh波外,还含有不同比例的体波成分。其中,在位移分量1和位移分量3中占主要成分的是准纵波,在位移分量2中占主要成分的是准慢切变波。它们均按照指数方式在表面上进行传播衰减,其中准慢切变波的衰减速度小于准纵波的衰减速度。IDT指条数相对较多时的体波振幅要大于指条数相对较小时的体波振幅,且在距离IDT较近的范围内IDT指条数相对较多时体波衰减更快。