A Novel Single Phase Excited Sandwich Piezoelectric Transducer for Tracked Mobile System

Abstract:
To simplify the control system, a novel single phase excited sandwich piezoelectric transducer is proposed in this study to build a tracked mobile system. Utilizing the coupling property of beam-ring combined structure, a traveling wave is produced in the driving ring of the transducer when its composite beam is excited to vibrate at the longitudinal vibration, resulting in the generation of elliptical motion for surface points of the driving ring. A metal track tensioned on the outer surface of the driving rings can be driven by friction. Finite element simulation is used to determine the geometrical sizes of the transducer. And the vibration characteristic of the transducer prototype is measured, obtaining a resonant frequency of 19392 Hz for the operating vibration. Additionally, frequency sensitivity experiments were conducted to the tracked mobile system prototype at the excitation voltage of 300 Vrms, attaining a maximum mean velocity of the prototype of 45.6 mm/s with an optimal driving frequency of 19410 Hz. Finally, the motion characteristic of the tracked mobile system prototype was measured, showing that the maximum mean velocity of the system increased as the excitation voltage increased. Experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of the operating principle and design of the proposed transducer.