Experimental investigation on the piezo-composite actuator with piezoelectric single-crystal layer

Studies on muscle mimicking actuators have increased in the last two decades due to the possibility of various applications for compact lightweight actuators including small unmanned aircrafts, missile, and biomimetic robots. Piezoelectric materials have been used in a variety of applications ranging from shape control of structure and active vibration control of structure to noise suppression due to compact size and good frequency response. Conventional polycrystal piezoelectric ceramic materials, however, have limited actuating strains and displacement, hindering their use in actuators for small aerospace vehicles. In this study, the design and fabrication method of an actuator with a piezoelectric single-crystal layer were investigated to increase the actuation strain and displacement. From a comparison of the performance of the LIPCA-C2 and LIPCA-S prototypes, it was found that the new LIPCA-S2, which has much higher coefficient of the unimorph actuator, can generate an actuating displacement more than twice that of LIPCA-C2.