Miniature Piezo Composite Bimorph Actuator for Elevated Temperature Operation

Abstract

Development of a new, miniature actuator with large stroke and enhanced thermal stability could provide an improved capability for useful applications. This paper investigates the design, fabrication and testing of a macro fiber composite (MFC) based bimorph actuator to meet stringent requirements such as size, stroke and thermal stability. Results indicate that a d33/d31 MFC configuration was compact and provided sufficient stroke while avoiding issues related to depolarization at elevated temperature. A compact, high voltage power supply that runs off of a 3 volt battery was also developed as part of this effort.