Ultrasonic friction reduction investigation on a longitudinal-vibration-mode pneumatic cylinder

Pneumatic piston-cylinder actuators are widely applied in industry for a variety of automation and robotics field. For suppressing leakage, these actuators incorporate seal rings which meanwhile introduce friction and affect the positioning precision and output force. The friction reduction by ultrasonic vibration has got wide and deep investigations by global researchers, and been successfully implemented in many fields. This paper will focus on the effect of friction reduction by a longitudinal vibration generated by an ultrasonic transducer connected to the pneumatic cylinder. Meanwhile, it provides a novel method in controlling friction and motion for the researchers on fluid power and control.