Ultrasonic micro-motor using miniature piezoelectric tube with diameter of 1.0 mm

At the present moment, the smallest piezoelectric ultrasonic micro-motors utilizing miniature PZT piezoelectric ceramic tubes were developed. The motor consists of a PZT-metal composite tube stator, two steel rotors and a thin shaft that keeps the two rotors pressing on both ends of the stator elastically. The dimensions of the PZT tube are 1.0 mm in outer diameter, 0.6 mm in inner diameter and 5.0 mm in length. The diameter and total length of the assembled micro-motor is 1.0 mm and 8 mm (including an adjusting spring), respectively. The tube-type micro-motor is driven by two pairs of alternative voltages with phase shift 90 degrees between the adjacent electrodes and operated in the first circular-bending vibration mode of the stator with the resonance frequency about 58 kHz. The experimental results show that the tube-type micro-motors have perfect performances: (i) high rotation frequency over 3000 rpm and (ii) large starting torque over 7.8 microN m under the conditions of the input voltage of 110 V(p-p) and the resonance frequency. The micro-motor is well suitable for operating in micro-spaces, such as in intravascular, micro-robots and micro-craft applications.