Hierachical micro/nano structures fabrication by a novel tri-axial piezoelectric servo system

[Display omitted] •A novel compliant mechanism is designed to construct the tri-axial piezoelectric servo system.•The developed servo system can change the tool position and posture simultaneously.•The analytical modeling, FEA-based optimization and offline test are conducted.•Micro grooves and pillars with hierarchical features are fabricated successfully by the developed system. In this study, a novel tri-axial piezoelectric servo system is developed for micro/nano manufacturing considering the stroke, motion resolution, crosstalk, working bandwidth, compact structure, and position and pose modulation capability of cutting tool. A compliant mechanism which consists four compliant chains is designed based on trapezoidal leaf spring, X-type flexure hinge and right circular flexure hinge. The structure dimensional parameters are determined by finite element analysis (FEA) optimization method. Analytical modeling for compliance and dynamics are established and verified by FEA. Besides, the prototype of the developed tri-axial piezoelectric servo system was manufactured and experimentally tested. Testing results show that the high stroke, low parasitic motion, high motion resolution as well as the dynamic response can be obtained in terms of the compact structure. Moreover, the tracking control is conducted to demonstrate the controllability of the tri-axial piezoelectric servo system. Finally, the stability and feasibility of the developed system is verified by typical micro/nano structures manufacturing.