Wavebased Micromotor for Plane Motions (3-DoF)

G. Jehle, D. Kern, and W. Seemann
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
Published in 2010

This paper proposes the design of a 3-Degree of Freedom(DoF) motor based on surface acoustic waves in elastic solids. The rotor is propelled by wave fields, for linear and rotational motion respectively, in the stator, that can be steered by the driving signal of the piezoelectric actuators, which are placed on an elastic plate. The next considerations concern the feasibility of the proposed motor by simplified analytic models. With COMSOL, the first model demonstrates the conversion of the elastic wave energy to the kinetic energy of the rotor during the rotor-stator-interaction. Secondly an algorithm from antenna theory for electromagnetic waves is adapted in order to generate a steered wave field. The main section describes the FEM-model, which was interactively built and numerical issues.