Tribological performance of piezoelectric drive with rotor covered with YSZ and Al2O3 ceramic coatings

A tribometer with an original design is considered that includes a standing-wave piezoelectric rotational motor and makes it possible to measure the rotational velocity of the rotor, the travelled distance, and the torque of the piezoelectric drive. Two ceramic coatings (YSZ and Al 2 O 3 ) for the friction surface of the rotor have been studied experimentally. It has been shown that the duration of the run-in of the piezoelectric drive (PED) rotor covered with the YSZ coating is shorter than that of the PED rotor covered with the Al 2 O 3 coating. An increase in the contact force leads to a decrease in the rotational velocity and a rise in the torque of the PED. With account for the output parameters of the tribometer, such as the rotational velocity and the torque, the Al 2 O 3 coating can be considered to hold better promise for use in the PED tribocontact than the YSZ coating.