Recent Advances in Piezoelectric Compliant Devices for Ultrahigh-Precision Engineering

Abstract

With advancements in small-scale research fields, precision manipulation has become crucial for interacting with small objects. As research progresses, the demand for higher precision in manipulation has led to the emergence of ultrahigh-precision engineering (UHPE), which exhibits significant potential for various applications. Traditional rigid-body manipulators suffer from issues like backlash and friction, limiting their effectiveness at smaller-scale applications. Smart materials, particularly piezoelectric materials, offer promising solutions with their rapid response and high resolution, making them ideal for creating efficient piezoelectric transducers. Meanwhile, compliant mechanisms, which use elastic deformation to transmit force and motion, eliminate inaccuracies induced by rigid-body mechanisms. Integrating piezoelectric transducers and compliant mechanisms into piezoelectric compliant devices enhances UHPE system performance. This paper reviews the recent advances in piezoelectric compliant devices. By focusing on the utilization of piezoelectric transducers and compliant mechanisms, their applications in perception, energy harvesting, and actuation have been surveyed, and future research suggestions are discussed.

Keywords: compliant mechanisms; piezoelectric compliant device; piezoelectric transducer; precision engineering.

Figure 6

Typical types of linkage-based amplifiers. Lever-type with configuration of (a) class 1 and (b) class 3, (c) multi-stage, and (d) differential; (e) triangular-type, (f) Scott–Russell-type, and (g) bridge-type, where the triangle, circle, line, and arrow represent the fixed support, compliant joint, rigid link, and motion, respectively. The same applies below unless specified otherwise. Examples of design: (h) Bridge-type and lever-type. Reproduced with permission from [61], ©2023 IEEE. (i) Lever-type and half bridge-type. Reproduced under terms of the CC-BY license from [62]. (j) Four-bar linkage and lever-type. Reproduced with permission from [63], ©2021 Elsevier.

Figure 8

Schematic diagram of linkage-based guider. (a) Approximate linear motion of a hinged-free beam, (b) the parallelogram-type, and (c) the compound lever-type; Examples of design: (d) Compound bridge-type. Reproduced with permissions from [70,71], ©2020 Springer Nature and ©2020 IOP Publishing, respectively. (e) The combination of compound bridge-type, compound lever-type, and parallelogram-type. Reproduced with permission from [75], ©2024 Elsevier. (f) Bridge-type embedded with Scott–Russell mechanism. Reproduced with permission from [76], ©2021 Elsevier.

Figure 9

(a) Schematic diagram of a fixed-guided leaf flexure under vertical and horizontal load; (b) The two-stage compound parallelogram flexure guider; (c) Schematic diagram of an inclined flexure that provides negative stiffness; (d) The force-displacement relationship of the negative- and positive-stiffness mechanism and their superimposed; Examples of design: (e) The spatial 2-DOF decoupler for guiding and decoupling the tilt motion. Reproduced with permission from [78], ©2019 Elsevier. (f) CFM for salmon egg manipulation. Reproduced with permission from [81], ©2024 Elsevier. (g) CFM for polishing. Reproduced with permission from [82], ©2024 IEEE.

Figure 11

(a) A dedicated PEH for powering wireless health monitoring sensor nodes of traffic-induced bridge. Reproduced with permission from [107], ©2013 IOP Publishing. (b) PEH with self-tuning harvesting frequency through a movable slider. Reproduced with permission from [109], ©2013 Elsevier. (c) PEH based on the wake galloping phenomenon. Reproduced with permission from [122], ©2018 Elsevier. (d) A footwear energy harvester using six rhombus-type force amplifiers connected in parallel. Reproduced with permission from [131], ©2018 Elsevier. (e) Multi-directional PEH using a single piezoelectric stack. Reproduced with permission from [133], ©2021 IEEE.

Figure 12

(a) A dual-range rotation positioning stage composed of two sets of double slider crank mechanisms. Reproduced with permission from [139], ©2021 Elsevier. (b) A 6-DOF positioning stage composed of three substages in series. Reproduced with permission from [140], ©2018 Elsevier. (c) An XYZ parallel positioning stage with a compact and planar profile. Reproduced with permission from [141], ©2020 Springer Nature. (d) A widely used decoupling scheme for an XY positioning stage. Reproduced with permission from [144], ©2023 Elsevier.

Figure 1

Overview of this review paper. The UHPE application is geared to PETs and CMs together.

Figure 2

Schematic diagrams of piezoelectric materials. (a) Direct and (b) reverse piezoelectric effects. (c) The coordinate system of PMs based on the poling direction. Three working modes of PETs: (d) compression mode, (e) transverse mode, and (f) shear mode.

Figure 3

(a) Schematic diagram of a piezo-driven CM and (b) the relationship between force and displacement output of the PEA under maximum operating voltage.

Figure 4

Typical compliant components. (a) Leaf flexure. Compliant hinges with notch shape of (b) rectangular, (c) semi-circular, (d) semi-elliptical, (e) parabolic, and (f) triangular type.

Figure 5

(a) Stress and strain of a bending flexure; (b) Typical stress–strain curve of the material and its elastic and plastic regions.

Figure 7

(a) Schematic diagram of flextension; Typical types of flextension-based amplifier: (b) rhombus-type and (c) ellipse-type; Examples of design: (d) Piezo-driven middle ear implant. Reproduced under terms of the CC-BY license from [65]. (e) Stroke amplifier with fully compliant structure. Reproduced under terms of the CC-BY license from [66]. (f) Sandwich-like vertical positioning stage. Reproduced with permission from [67], ©2019 IEEE.

Figure 10

(a) A PVDF film integrated onto an injection micropipette for cell piercing. Reproduced with permission from [93], ©2017 IEEE. (b) A two-stage compound parallelogram flexure guider constructed from PVDF and MFC films for force sensing. Reproduced with permission from [94], ©2017 IEEE. Static force PES based on: (c) Structure resonant method. Reproduced with permission from [95], ©2000 Elsevier. (d) Capacitance measurement. Reproduced with permission from [96], ©2018 Elsevier.

Figure 13

The microgrippers with: (a) Normally open and normally close jaws. Reproduced with permission from [73], ©2021 IEEE. (b) Active-type force control. Reproduced with permission from [70], ©2020 Springer Nature. (c) Passive-type force control. Reproduced with permission from [150] and [151], ©2017 IEEE and ©2016 IEEE, respectively. (d) Gripping and rubbing functions. Reproduced with permission from [61], ©2023 IEEE.