Characterization of a piezohydraulic actuator

The PiezoHydraulic Pump (PHP) used in this work currently uses proprietary check valves that allow the PHP to be operated at 1 kHz. At a bias pressure of 500 psi and operating voltage of 1 kV, the PHP produces a mechanical power output of 46 W. The PHP was baseline tested using both the proprietary valves (internal) and external commercial passive check valves. Using the external valves at a bias pressure of 80 psi, the PHP was tested at various frequencies. At an operating frequency of 150 Hz, the maximum flow rate was 0.91 cc/s, while at 125 Hz, the maximum mechanical power output was 0.18 W (0.64 W/kg). This significant decrease in characteristics can be attributed to an increase in system compliance by moving the valves external to the pump housing and possible air entrapment within the chamber.

[1]  Christopher S. Lynch,et al.  Piezoelectric hydraulic pump development , 2000 .

[2]  Toshiiku Sashida,et al.  An Introduction to Ultrasonic Motors , 1994 .

[3]  Bo Li,et al.  Development of robust microvalves for large flow rate robust hydraulic actuators , 2003, The Sixteenth Annual International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2003. MEMS-03 Kyoto. IEEE.

[4]  Donald J. Leo,et al.  Performance of a piezohydraulic actuation system with active valves , 2002, SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring.

[5]  Siu Wing Or,et al.  Design of a Piezoelectric-hydraulic Pump with Active Valves , 2004 .

[6]  Christopher S. Lynch,et al.  Piezoelectric Hydraulic Pump System Dynamic Model , 2001 .

[7]  Christopher S. Lynch,et al.  PZT piston driven hydraulic pump development , 2000, ISAF 2000. Proceedings of the 2000 12th IEEE International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics (IEEE Cat. No.00CH37076).