Development and study of novel non-contact ultrasonic motor based on principle of structural asymmetry.

The article presents novel design of non-contact rotary ultrasonic motor consisting of ring-shaped stator vibrating in in-plane flexural mode and rotor provided with blades. In contrast to other motors with similar design proposed motor relies on the use of standing ultrasonic waves. This simplifies design and electronic control of motor and becomes possible due to introduction of artificial asymmetry, for example by tilting one or several blades of the rotor relative to the surface normal. Operating principle of the proposed motor is based on acoustic radiation torque exerted on rotor by ultrasonic waves propagating in air or fluid gap between rotor and stator. This torque is calculated using finite element method by means of COMSOL Multiphysics software. Dynamics of rotor is studied using MathCad software and general theory of nonlinear conservative oscillators. Role of asymmetry is explained on the basis of comparative analysis of potential functions and phase trajectories for symmetric and asymmetric cases. It is shown that direction of rotation is determined by structural parameters of motor, particularly tilting direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) of the blades. Conceptual design of motor with bidirectional rotation is described. Direction and velocity of rotation in the proposed conceptual design can be potentially controlled by changing excitation frequency of stator. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.