Development and evaluation of a new piezoelectric stick-slip actuator using stair type flexure hinge

A new piezoelectric stick-slip actuator using stair type flexure hinge is proposed and developed in this work. It’s spirited by referencing the reported “Z-shaped” flexure hinge in the literatures and the idea of asymmetric structure. In this design, the PZT stack can generate elongation displacement under the excitation of sawtooth signal, and then the elongation can be transmitted into the vertical and horizontal displacements on the driving tip by the stair type flexure hinge. The slider is pressed by the vertical displacement and driven by the horizontal displacement, respectively. The working principle of the proposed actuator is clarified. The statics characteristics are investigated by the theoretical and simulation methods. Finally, the mechanical output characteristics of the developed prototype are tested. The maximum output velocity is 8.5 mm/s when the voltage and frequency are 100 V and 720 Hz. The maximum output force is tested as 2.6 N when the preloading force is 3 N. The experiment results validate the feasibility of the proposed piezoelectric stick-slip actuator based on stair type flexure hinge.