Design and driving characteristic researches of a novel bionic stepping piezoelectric actuator with large load capacity based on clamping blocks

Based on a novel piezoelectric actuator with large load capacity that was used in the in situ device developed in our previous work, further researches are pursued in order to clear its basic characteristics and extend the range of application in this paper. The configuration features including a PZT stack, a stator, a mover, four clamping blocks, four clamping springs, and two preloaded springs were presented to achieve stepper linear motion with large load capacity at high resolution performance. The design process of the clamping block and its clamping principle together with the pisciform mover was described. To investigate the driving characteristics of the actuator, a series of experiments on the driving signal, driving voltage, driving frequency, speed and loading capacity were carried out. Experimental results indicate that the actuator can run at a speed of 1,398 µm/s with a driving frequency of 43 Hz and driving voltage of 100 V. The motion resolution and maximum load capacity of the actuator were determined as 29.6 nm and 224 N. The experimental results also confirm that the actuator can achieve various stepping speeds through changing the driving voltage and frequency.