NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Multilayer Piezoelectric Stack Actuator CharacterizationFuture NASA missions are increasingly seeking to use actuators for precision positioning to accuracies of the order of fractions of a nanometer. For this purpose, multilayer piezoelectric stacks are being considered as actuators for driving these precision mechanisms. In this study, sets of commercial PZT stacks were tested in various AC and DC conditions at both nominal and extreme temperatures and voltages. AC signal testing included impedance, capacitance and dielectric loss factor of each actuator as a function of the small-signal driving sinusoidal frequency, and the ambient temperature. DC signal testing includes leakage current and displacement as a function of the applied DC voltage. The applied DC voltage was increased to over eight times the manufacturers' specifications to investigate the correlation between leakage current and breakdown voltage. Resonance characterization as a function of temperature was done over a temperature range of -180C to +200C which generally exceeded the manufacturers' specifications. In order to study the lifetime performance of these stacks, five actuators from one manufacturer were driven by a 60volt, 2 kHz sine-wave for ten billion cycles. The tests were performed using a Lab-View controlled automated data acquisition system that monitored the waveform of the stack electrical current and voltage. The measurements included the displacement, impedance, capacitance and leakage current and the analysis of the experimental results will be presented.
Document ID
20100031715
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Sherrit, Stewart
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Jones, Christopher M.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Aldrich, Jack B.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Blodget, Chad
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Bao, Xioaqi
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Badescu, Mircea
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Bar-Cohen, Yoseph
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
February 11, 2008
Subject Category
Electronics And Electrical Engineering
Meeting Information
Meeting: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials and Nondestructive Eavaluation and Health Monitoring
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: January 1, 2008
Sponsors: International Society for Optical Engineering
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
active mirrors
positioners
multilayers
piezoelectric devices
stacks

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available