Performance dependence of a stick-slip piezoelectric actuator on the angle between the piezoelectric stack and mover.

The angle between the piezoelectric stack (PES) and the mover would significantly affect the output performances of stick-slip piezoelectric actuators in theory; however, this issue has not been explored. Accordingly, in this paper, to investigate the effects of the angle, a stick-slip piezoelectric actuator with a changeable angle between the PES and the mover was proposed, and its structure was briefly introduced first. Then, the relationship between the angle and the parasitic motion was theoretically calculated. After that, the output performances of the actuator were characterized under different angles between the PES and the mover. The results indicated that the angle between the PES and the mover significantly affected the one-step maximum displacement and the backward motion. After comprehensive analysis, the best output performances of the actuator were obtained under the angle of 0°.