Multi-stage piezo stroke amplifier

The drawbacks of the conventional actuators restrict the performance of parallel mechanisms especially when applied to micro/nano scale high-precision manipulation. This research investigates on a novel Multi-Stage Piezo Stroke Amplifier which can be employed as the actuated module for multi-axis piezo based parallel kinematic machines with high positioning precision and frequency dynamics. Firstly the structure modeling, based on compact modular design, is introduced. Then the kinematic schemes of the overall piezo displacement amplifier, the flexible triple joint and the flexible double-carriage joint are presented. The elastic model is developed to estimate the device stiffness. Finally, the parametric finite-element analysis, including the total deformation and surface response, is implemented to evaluate the actual mechanical behavior of the device. The optimization analysis is performed to maximize the stroke total displacement and amplification factor. The proposed methods and algorithms also provide a new viewpoint for the analysis and development of other flexure amplifiers. © 2012 IEEE.