Ultrasonic cutting with resonance tracking and vibration stabilization

An uItrasonic planar cutting tool based on silicon and driven by PMN-PT d₃₁ plates has been designed, fabricated and characterized. To solve the issue of resonant frequency shirt and electrical impedance variation of the tool in high power applications, a driving system which can track the resonance and stabilize the vibration amplitude has been developed. The system tracks the resonance by locking the impedance phase at zero and stabilizes the vibration amplitude by keeping the motional current constant. Experiments show the planar tool can generate vibration amplitude over 5 μm without using the resonance tracking and vibration stabilization system. However, significant improvement has been brought in by the developed system.