This article presents a simplified model for studying the main parameters for magnetically plucking piezoelectric beams in energy harvesting devices. The advantage of magnetic plucking is that there is no impact on the brittle piezo material. However, achieving a good release of the piezo beam is more difficult than with fingers or plectra. The influence of different magnet arrangements, the ga...

This work presents and compares few simple one-dimensional models for the piezoelectric actuation and detection of beams. The 1D nature, which allows an easy embedding of the model in the classical Euler-Bernoulli beam equations, is obtained by adopting simplifying assumptions along directions of the cross-sectional plane. By changing such assumptions, different models can be built. Their valid...

A novel approach to the control of a single joint-single flexible link robot is proposed and experimentally evaluated. The control is completely signal based, and relies on joint trajectory pre-planning plus collocated vibration control of the flexible link through piezoelectric actuation. Trajectory pre-planning is a well known strategy for avoiding link vibrations during maneuvers, however it...

This article deals with the mechanical analysis of a fixed-fixed nano-beam based on nonlocal elasticity theory. The nano-beam is sandwiched with two piezoelectric layers through it’s upper and lower sides. The electromechanical coupled equations governing the problem are derived based nonlocal theory considering to Euler-Bernoulli beam assumptions and based on the nonlocal piezoelectricity acco...

We have developed, manufactured and tested a unimorph deformable mirror for space applications based on piezoelectric actuation. The mirror was designed for the correction of low-order Zernike modes with a stroke of several tens of micrometers over a clear aperture of 50 mm. It was successfully tested in thermal vacuum, underwent lifetime tests, and was exposed to random vibrations, sinusoidal ...

Surface acoustic waves are used to actuate and process smallest amounts of fluids on the planar surface of a piezoelectric chip. Chemical modification of the chip surface is employed to create virtual wells and tubes to confine the liquids. Lithographically modulated wetting properties of the surface define a fluidic network, in analogy to the wiring of an electronic circuit. Acoustic radiation...

In the not too distant future, new materials for sensing and actuation, together with high-density, low-power electronics and embedded computation, will bring interaction and intelligence to commonplace inanimate objects in our environment. As a simple but illustrative example, we have built balloons that can interact conversationally. This paper describes this system: the piezoelectric foil th...

Surface acoustic waves are used to actuate and process smallest amounts of fluids on the planar surface of a piezoelectric chip. Chemical modification of the chip surface is employed to create virtual wells and tubes to confine the liquids. Lithographically modulated wetting properties of the surface define a fluidic network, in analogy to the wiring of an electronic circuit. Acoustic radiation...

We report a method for addressing gas leakage in micromachined valves. The valves used for evaluating the proposed concept utilize a silicon valve seat that is bonded to a glass substrate and actuated by a piezoelectric stack, all of which are assembled within a ceramic package. The sealing method uses the capillary forces of a liquid sealant on the valve seat to reduce gas leakage below measur...

Abstract The potential to actuate proportional flow control valves using piezoelectric ceramics or other smart materials has been investigated for a number of years. Although performance advantages compared to electromagnetic actuation have been demonstrated, a major obstacle has proven to be ferroelectric hysteresis, which is typically 20% for a piezoelectric actuator. In this paper, a detaile...