Improvement mechanism of energy conversion efficiency in ultrasonic motor with flexible rotor

Flexible rotors are widely used in traveling wave rotary ultrasonic motors (TRUMs) because of their higher energy conversion efficiency; however, there have been few reports on how flexible rotors improve the energy conversion efficiency of ultrasonic motors. In this study, we investigate the improvement mechanism of energy conversion efficiency in TRUMs with flexible rotors. A 3D finite element (FE) model with full coupling among a piezoelectric coupled stator, rotor, friction layer, and the rigid–elastic contact interface of the stator and friction layer is established. To analyze the mechanism by which the efficiency of the TRUM is improved, the contact interface and rotor vibration information are extracted. Taking TRUM-60 as an example, the transient solution method and modal analysis method are used to solve the model. It is found that when the stator mode is B09, the flexible rotor mode is B19. The energy conversion efficiency of the TRUM is obtained from the ratio of output power to the electrical input power of the model solution. The results are validated using 3D vibration measurements and energy conversion efficiency experiments. The simulation result shows that the motor with flexible rotor improves the energy conversion efficiency compared with the motor with rigid rotor, which can be attributed to two reasons: first, the axial amplitude ratio of the flexible rotor to the stator is reduced; second, the flexible rotor reduces the radial friction. This study reveals the influence of flexible rotor on the output efficiency and can thus provide guidance for rotor design.