Andrew Weekly Update

Mar 15, 2016 | No Comments | By Andrew Robinson

1.) Zeroing in on a piezo electric actuator for dynamic applications. Specifically, our application is defined in the industry as a dynamic, pulsed drive operation.

• This mode is commonly used for valves and switch relays in practice
• For pulsed applications, there are piezo effects, and drive system effects (electrical drivers)
  • Piezo Effects:
    • The inertia of the actuator itself can lead to overshoot, and subsequent tensile stresses. Tensile stresses are not handled well by piezoelectric ceramics. These effects can be suppressed by the addition of resistance springs to mitigate overshoot.
    • Heat buildup in the piezo. This is probably not an issue for us because we are only doing a single isolated pulse so the dissipation factor (~0.5% heat loss) of the PZT will not play a role.
  • Electrical Component Effects:
    • the maximum velocity of the actuator depends on the peak current of the power supply
    • maximum acceleration depends on the slew rate of the power supply

2.) Writing a outline for the literature review of the the thesis