HYDRAULIC AMPLIFICATION DEVICESFOR MICROSCALE ACTUATION

摘要

Hydraulic amplification devices for stroke amplification inMEMS devices have been designed, fabricated and evaluatedexperimentally. This work investigates the feasibility of using theconcept of hydraulic amplification as a means of increasing theactuation stroke of a piezoelectric actuator in a microfabricatedactuation system. The important aspects relating to the design ofthese devices are presented. This paper further provides a briefoverview of the fabrication process used and then proceeds toaddress the topics related to the successful filling and sealing ofsmall-scale hydraulic couplers. Both static and dynamic sealingtechniques were used. Static tests were performed and strokeamplification ratios as high as 50:1 were obtained, with the peakto-peak amplified stroke being approximately 25μm. Results froma piezoelectrically driven hydraulic amplifier are also presentedand show resonant behavior at approximately 5kHz, proving thathigh-frequency, high-force, large-stroke actuation can beperformed on the microscale using piezoelectric hydraulicamplification.