A Novel Piezoelectric Stack for Rotary Motion by d₁₅ Working Mode: Principle, Modeling, Simulation, and Experiments

A novel piezoelectric stack for rotary motion using d₁₅ working mode is proposed, fabricated, and tested in this article to achieve the high stiffness and high precision of rotation. This piezoelectric stack is fabricated by bonding process from only two components - lead zirconate titanate ceramics and electrodes, which is beneficial to realize the simple structure. A theoretical model based on the shear deformation theory is established to predict the static output performances. And the simulation with the finite-element method is adopted to evaluate the dynamic characteristics. An experimental system is built to verify the design and study the performances of the piezoelectric stack. The experimental results indicate that the static output angle changes from -13.25 to +13.33 μrad, whereas the exciting voltage changes from -300 to +300 V, with good linear relationship and high repeatability accuracy. Under the condition of changing the exciting voltage by the step of 0.5 V, the stable resolution is measured to be higher than 0.022 μrad. The large load capacity and width frequency response are verified, which reflect the high stiffness of the proposed piezoelectric stack. The proposed piezoelectric stack achieves accurate and stable rotary output motion with high resolution, rapid response, and large load capacity. Besides, the stack has regular shape and simple structure, and therefore, it is suitable to be integrated in the equipment in the fields of micro-nano manipulations, piezoelectric ultrasonic motors, etc.