A new standing-wave-type linear ultrasonic motor based on in-plane modes

► New type linear ultrasonic motor based on in-plane vibration modes. ► Special isosceles triangular structure of the stator. ► Stator optimal design methods based on APDL (ANSYS Parametric Design Language). ► Influence analysis of the triangular structure on the amplitude of the driving foot. ► Low cost in fabrication, simple in structure and easy to realize miniaturization. This paper presents a new standing-wave-type linear ultrasonic motor using combination of the first longitudinal and the second bending modes. Two piezoelectric plates in combination with a metal thin plate are used to construct the stator. The superior point of the stator is its isosceles triangular structure part of the stator, which can amplify the displacement in horizontal direction of the stator in perpendicular direction when the stator is operated in the first longitudinal mode. The influence of the base angle θ of the triangular structure part on the amplitude of the driving foot has been analyzed by numerical analysis. Four prototype stators with different angles θ have been fabricated and the experimental investigation of these stators has validated the numerical simulation. The overall dimensions of the prototype stators are no more than 40 mm (length) × 20 mm (width) × 5 mm (thickness). Driven by an AC signal with the driving frequency of 53.3 kHz, the no-load speed and the maximal thrust of the prototype motor using the stator with base angle 20° were 98 mm/s and 3.2 N, respectively. The effective elliptical motion trajectory of the contact point of the stator can be achieved by the isosceles triangular structure part using only two PZTs, and thus it makes the motor low cost in fabrication, simple in structure and easy to realize miniaturization.