An ultrasonic driving principle using friction reduction

• An ultrasonic driving principle based on the friction reduction effect was proposed.
• A linear ultrasonic motor based on this principle was designed, fabricated and characterized.
• The principle was confirmed by the prototype motor.

An ultrasonic driving principle using friction reduction is proposed and investigated in this paper. In the principle, a continuous ultrasonic push-and-pull driving is combined with a vibration induced friction reduction at desired time intervals, to linearly drive a slider. A linear motor prototype based on this principle is designed, fabricated and measured, and experimental results confirm the proposed principle. The prototype can be driven forwards and backwards, and frequencies of the two voltages for the driving and friction reduction need not to be the same. When the two voltages for the driving and friction reduction are 400 Vp–p, the no-load speed and stalling load of the prototype in the forward driving are 187 mm/s and 0.70 N, respectively, and those in the backward driving are 214 mm/s and 0.65 N, respectively.