A novel rotary ultrasonic motor based on multiple Langevin transducers: design, simulation, and experimental investigation

Traveling wave rotary ultrasonic motors (TRUSMs) have been applied in optical systems, robotics, biomedical and other fields. However, the disadvantages such as short working life, driving performance degradation, and low energy utilization significantly limit the long-term and stable operation of TRUSMs in advanced fields like aerospace mechanisms. To address the above issues, a novel rotary ultrasonic motor based on multiple Langevin transducers is proposed in this paper. First, the structural design, driving principle and general design criteria are described in detail. Then, the structural parameters are optimized by finite element simulation analysis. Second, a prototype is assembled controllably. Subsequently, the impedance test and vibration measurement are carried out. The results show that the traveling wave is successfully generated on the tooth-ring, and all the Langevin transducers are excited to the first_order longitudinal vibration modes, which strongly verify the correctness of design principle. Finally, the driving performance experiment is carried out. The experimental results show that the no-load speed is 62 r min⁻¹ under the pre-pressure of 10 N. The stalling torque is 0.94 N m at the driving voltage of 500 V_p-p. The response characteristics show that the start/stop time are 4.6/5.5 ms, and the angular displacement resolution of clockwise/counterclockwise driving are 6.7/10.2 μrad. The motor proposed in this paper not only exhibits relatively high output performance with excellent vibration characteristics, but also maintains compactness of the structure. The sandwiched structure design effectively avoids the problem that the bonded-type piezoceramic rings in conventional TRUSMs are prone to damage or fall-off when vibrating for a long time. Furthermore, the general design criteria provide a new approach to develop high performance rotary ultrasonic motors. The proposed novel ultrasonic motor is expected to meet the demand for long-term and stable operation in aerospace mechanisms.