Pressure Regulator forPneumatic ValvewithaPZTActuator

Thepressure regulator whichisusedforcontrolling thereducing pressure inthepiezoelectricall y driven pneumatic valve hasbeenstudied. Thepneumatic valve ofthisstudy object is2-stage typeandconsists ofa piezoelectric actuator, acontroller, apoppet valve andapressure regulator. Nominal flowof501pm,maximum operating pressure of0.9MPa andfrequency characteristic of1OHzandoverarerequired inthis pneumatic valve, but thepressure regulator isneeded because piezoelectric actuator hasnoability tocontrol thepressure of0.9MPa directly. Inthis study, bimorph typePZTactuator of25.2mm(L)x7.2mm(W)x0.5mm(H)withconstant of-220 x10-12 CN-1 wasproposed andinvestigated. Maximumoperating force of0.052N andmaximumdisplacement of63utm were gotten fromthefabricated PZTactuator. Fromtheanalysis results, theorifice diameter of0.6mmforapiezoelectric actuator wasderived andthenthepressure regulator whichcanbeoperated under 0.15MPaeasily wasdesigned and manufactured. Performance andeffects ofdesign parameters weresimulated bytheSimulink ofMatlab software, andit wasconfirmed that theperformance characteristics ofmanufactured pressure regulator aresuperior inthecommonuse pressure rangeof0.5MPato0.7MPa.Theresults showthat theproposed pressure regulator issuitable forthe pneumatic valve withaPZTactuator.