Analytical Model-Based Multiphysics Optimization of a Nanopositioning Electromagnetic Actuator

This paper presents the multiphysics optimization of a new class of nanopositioning actuators, termed as flexure-based electromagnetic linear actuator (FELA). The optimization is carried out analytically based on the derived closed-form magnetic field, force, and thermal models, while its objectives include the maximizing of force generation and minimizing of thermal generation, which are both crucial for the nanopositioning actuators. The optimization results show that the new version of FELA achieved 67.3% improvement in force generation for certain current and 46.2% thermal reduction for certain output force, compared to the previous version of FELA with the same size, which was optimized using the numerical methods. The optimization results are also validated by the experiments of the new version FELA prototype, where 56.2% improvement in current–force sensitivity and 43% above reduction in thermal power are demonstrated experimentally. Furthermore, by utilizing the established modeling framework, several fundamental questions on the design of FELA are answered theoretically in this paper, such as the effect about the uniform and radial magnetization of the permanent magnet and the performance tradeoff between the different number of magnet segments.