Special Issue "Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors: Future Perspectives"

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). This special issue belongs to the section "Actuator Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Kenji Uchino
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Electrical Engineering The Pennsylvania State University, 135 Energy and The Environment Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Interests: piezoelectric actuator; ultrasonic motor; piezo-transformer; high power piezoelectrics; loss mechanism; Pb-free piezoelectrics; piezoelectric composite; multilayer actuator; relaxor piezoelectric single crystal; piezoelectric energy harvesting; piezoelectric driver
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Regarding the industrial commercialization of “Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors”, we can point out at least the following million selling products in the past 15 years: Inkjet printer (piezoelectric) by Epson, Diesel injection valve (multilayer) by Siemens, Bosch, Denso (Peugeot, Toyota), Camera module for mobile phones (micro ultrasonic motor) by Samsung Electromechanics (Galaxy series), Piezoelectric energy harvesting device for Programable Air-Burst Munition by Micromechatronics Inc. (US Army). This Special Issue seeks contributions addressing:

  1. Novel actuator designs;
  2. Deeper modeling/simulation algorithms;
  3. Innovative piezo-actuator drive/control schemes; and
  4. Niche application areas of piezoelectric actuators

for the coming 10 year market expansion.

Prof. Dr. Kenji Uchino

Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nobel piezoelectric actuator designs
  • ultrasonic motors
  • piezoelectric MEMS
  • piezoelectric energy harvesting
  • hybrid actuator systems based on piezoelectrics
  • deeper modeling/simulation algorithms
  • innovative piezo-actuator drive/control schemes
  • high power piezoelectrics for actuator applications
  • niche application areas of piezoelectric actuators

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Article
Proposal of an Equal-Stiffness and Equal-Stroke 2D Micro-Positioning Platform Driven by Piezoelectric Actuators
Actuators 2020, 9(3), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9030047 - 29 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1660
Abstract
Micro-positioning platform plays an important role in the field of precision positioning such as microelectronics, robotics and biomedicine. This paper proposes an equal-stiffness and equal-stroke 2D micro-positioning platform, which is driven by piezoelectric actuators. The overall structure of the 2D micro-positioning platform adopts [...] Read more.
Micro-positioning platform plays an important role in the field of precision positioning such as microelectronics, robotics and biomedicine. This paper proposes an equal-stiffness and equal-stroke 2D micro-positioning platform, which is driven by piezoelectric actuators. The overall structure of the 2D micro-positioning platform adopts a nested structure and the displacement magnification mechanism adopts two hourglass displacement magnification mechanisms. The displacement magnification ratio of the hourglass displacement magnification mechanism was studied, and its structural parameters were optimized. Static stiffness analysis and simulation analysis of the micro-positioning platform were carried out. The simulation stiffness of the micro-positioning platform in the XY direction is 46873 N/m and 46832 N/m respectively. The experimental prototype of the micro-positioning platform was built. Through the measurement experiment with the prototype, the maximum stroke of the micro-positioning platform in the XY direction is 489 μm and 493 μm respectively; the maximum coupling ratio in the XY direction is 2.38% and 2.70% respectively. The research indicates that the micro-positioning platform had the characteristics of small size, equal long stroke, equal stiffness and low coupling ratio in the XY direction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors: Future Perspectives)
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Review

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Review
Piezoelectric Thick Film Deposition via Powder/Granule Spray in Vacuum: A Review
Actuators 2020, 9(3), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9030059 - 23 Jul 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1806
Abstract
Conventional thin-film processing techniques remain inadequate for obtaining superior dense ceramic thick films. The incompatibility of ceramic films prepared via other methods, such as screen printing, spin coating, and sputtering, is a major obstacle in the fabrication of thick film-based ceramic electronic components. [...] Read more.
Conventional thin-film processing techniques remain inadequate for obtaining superior dense ceramic thick films. The incompatibility of ceramic films prepared via other methods, such as screen printing, spin coating, and sputtering, is a major obstacle in the fabrication of thick film-based ceramic electronic components. The granule spray in vacuum (GSV) processes and aerosol deposition (AD) are important coating approaches for forming dense ceramic thick films featuring nanoscale crystallite structures at room temperature, which offer excellent material properties and facilitate cost-effective production. AD ceramic coatings require the acceleration of solid-state submicron ceramic particles via gas streams with a velocity of a few hundred meters per second, which are then wedged onto a substrate. This process is economical and particularly useful for the fabrication of piezoelectric thick film-based microactuators, energy harvesters, sensors, and optoelectronic devices. More recently, the GSV technique was improved to achieve more uniform and homogeneous film deposition after AD. This review article presents a detailed overview of the AD and GSV processes for piezoelectric thick films in terms of recent scientific and technological applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors: Future Perspectives)
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Review
Recent Structure Development of Poly(vinylidene fluoride)-Based Piezoelectric Nanogenerator for Self-Powered Sensor
Actuators 2020, 9(3), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9030057 - 22 Jul 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1853
Abstract
As the internet of things (IoT) era approaches, various sensors, and wireless electronic devices such as smartphones, smart watches, and earphones are emerging. As the types and functions of electronics are diversified, the energy consumption of electronics increases, which causes battery charging and [...] Read more.
As the internet of things (IoT) era approaches, various sensors, and wireless electronic devices such as smartphones, smart watches, and earphones are emerging. As the types and functions of electronics are diversified, the energy consumption of electronics increases, which causes battery charging and maintenance issues. The piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) received great attention as an alternative to solving the energy issues of future small electronics. In particular, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric polymer-based PENGs are strong potential candidate with robust mechanical properties and a high piezoelectric coefficient. In this review, we summarize the recent significant advances of the development of PVDF-based PENGs for self-powered energy-harvesting systems. We discuss the piezoelectric properties of the various structures of PVDF-based PENGs such as thin film, microstructure, nanostructure, and nanocomposite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors: Future Perspectives)
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Other

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Tutorial
Electrothermal Phenomena in Ferroelectrics
Actuators 2020, 9(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/act9040093 - 23 Sep 2020
Viewed by 1130
Abstract
Physical properties of lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) ceramics change according to the initial electric poling process and electrical boundary conditions. This paper reports the electrothermal, piezothermal, and piezoelectric coupling phenomena in ferroelectrics from thermodynamics viewpoints, in particular, thermal property differences between unpoled and poled PZT’s [...] Read more.
Physical properties of lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) ceramics change according to the initial electric poling process and electrical boundary conditions. This paper reports the electrothermal, piezothermal, and piezoelectric coupling phenomena in ferroelectrics from thermodynamics viewpoints, in particular, thermal property differences between unpoled and poled PZT’s in the poling direction for open circuit and short circuit conditions. We propose a new terminology, “secondary electrothermal” coupling factor kλ, which is analogous to the electromechanical coupling factor k, relating the elastic compliances under short- and open-circuit conditions, in order to explain the fact that the short-circuit condition exhibited the larger thermal diffusivity than the open-circuit condition. On the other hand, the unpoled specimen exhibits the lowest thermal diffusivity. This tutorial paper was authored for providing comprehensive knowledge on equilibrium and time-dependent thermodynamics in ferroelectrics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors: Future Perspectives)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Aerosol-Deposition (AD) Technique and its Applications for Novel Piezoelectric and Ferroelectric Devices

Authors: Deepak R. Patil1, Venkateswarlu Annapureddy2, Jun Akedo*3, Jungho Ryu*1,4

Affiliations:

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, Korea, email:[email protected]
  2. Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu 620015 India
  3. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8560, Japan, email: [email protected]
  4. Institute of Materials Technology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Korea

 

Abstract: Thick film technology for the fabrication of high-quality piezoelectric and ferroelectric ceramic films is of increasing importance in the field of sensors, actuators, energy harvesters, and energy storage devices. The fabrication of these emerging functional devices, especially by conventional solid-state sintering method or many other thin or thick film processes is still challenging because the requirements of higher processing temperature and large residual stress. Therefore, a novel innovative processing technique is needed which meets the increased requirements of the ceramic thick film technology in terms of mass production, processing time and cost, integration capability in monolithic structures and miniaturization. A promising technology that meets all these requirements is the aerosol deposition (AD) technique. AD is a dry spray coating technique that uses the high kinetic energy of fluidized mixture of submicron size solid ceramic particles and carrier gas. AD method is based on the mechanism of shock-loading solidification in which submicron size ceramic particles with the velocity of subsonic speed typically are collided on the substrate to form thick, high density, binderless ceramic films at room temperature. This review focuses on the recent advances in the field of lead-based and lead-free piezoelectric and ferroelectric films synthesized by AD technique. This review also emphasize different aspects of AD techniques such as mechanisms and features of AD technique, materials and processes, electrical and piezoelectric properties of AD films followed by the potential of AD in different applications such as sensors, micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS), micro-actuators, and energy harvesting.

Keywords: Aerosol deposition, piezoelectric, ferroelectric, thick films, MEMS, actuator, energy harvesters.

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