Investigation on driving characteristics of a piezoelectric stick–slip actuator based on resonant/off-resonant hybrid excitation

A resonant/off-resonant hybrid excitation of a piezoelectric stick–slip actuator is proposed in this paper. It is accomplished by a resonant sinusoidal friction regulation wave (RSFR-wave) and an off-resonant saw-tooth wave (ORST-wave). The RSFR-wave is applied to the rapid deformation stage of the ORST-wave. In this stage, the first-order longitudinal vibration mode of the stator can be obtained. By this longitudinal vibration mode, the kinetic friction between the slider and frictional rod is obviously decreased utilizing ultrasonic friction reduction. The backward displacement is remarkably restrained. The high velocity, large mass of load and smooth displacement are achieved. The operation principle of hybrid excitation was discussed in detail, and a prototype was simulated, designed, and fabricated. A series of experiments were carried out and the results indicate that the step efficiency under the saw-tooth excitation and resonant/off-resonant hybrid excitation can realize 36.9% and 91.2%, respectively. The output velocity is increased by 147.23% relative to saw-tooth excitation. The minimum input power and the minimum driving voltage are decreased by 89.56% and 58.33%, respectively. Besides, the maximum mass of load capacity is 2.88 times that of saw-tooth excitation. The driving capacity of the actuator is increased by 466.13%.