Study on Vertical Peristaltic Micro-Feed Actuator

A new vertical peristaltic micro-feed actuator using piezoelectric stack as actuating element was designed in this paper. The clamping and driving of the mover are integrated through the piezoelectric stack and the flexible hinge structure. The mover crawls on the two tracks set by the two stators. The structure was simulated using ANSYS software to certify its feasibility. The result shows that the moving resolution of the actuator is 1.98 μm, and the maximum load capacity of the actuator is more than 2000 N. Finally, a hydraulic auxiliary support system was designed in order to make sure the structure is feasible when the piezoelectric stack is out of power.