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| Date: |
01.18.1994 |
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| Title: |
High Displacement Actuator (HDA) |
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| Description: |
Positioned beneath a fiber optic displacement sensor is the new High Displacement Actuator (HDA) developed by scientists at NASA Langley Research Center. The high displacement actuator significantly improves the state-of-the-art piezoelectric technology and provides inordinately large mechanical displacements. The HDA is also applicable to high performance sensor applications such as microphones, non-destructive testing, and vibration sensing. Test results on the high displacement actuators show displacements 50 times greater than device thickness and several orders of magnitude increase over state-of-the-art devices. The actuators can be used from DC to frequencies in excess of a megahertz and with displacement loads exceeding 10 Kg (25 lbs). The actuator can also produce displacements comparable to state-of-the-art devices with an order reduction in operating voltage. The high displacement actuators are reliable. They have been laboratory tested to beyond 400 million cycles without failure. The highly efficient electrically- insulated actuator can be operated in a vacuum, in liquids, and in the upper atmosphere. The HDA is versatile and rugged allowing for use in harsh environments for hundreds of commercial applications. In many device applications the high displacement actuator wafer itself can serve the function of several components, e.g. in simple pumps it take the place of piston, piston-rod and crank. The HDA is a packaged flexible laminate of pre-stressed polymeric materials and a piezoelectric ceramic that form a robust, low cost, user friendly device. |
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| ID: |
EL-1996-00133 |
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| Other ID: |
L94-8227 |
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| Credit: |
NASA Langley Research Center
(NASA-LaRC) |
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