Closed-loop control for deflection of cantilever beam based on hybrid photovoltaic/piezoelectric actuation mechanism

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel non-contact closed-loop control model for the deflection of cantilever beam based on hybrid photovoltaic/piezoelectric actuation mechanism. The polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric actuator was driven under the photovoltage of lead lanthanum zirconate(PLZT) ceramic which was irradiated by ultraviolet light. The closed-loop control equations for the deflection of cantilever beam were derived based on the coupled multi-physics model of PLZT ceramic and the constitutive model of cantilever beam. According to the identified parameters obtained from the static experiments during illumination phase and light-off phase, the mathematical simulation for closed-loop control of the deflection of cantilever beam was conducted. Furthermore, the corresponding experiments based on the hybrid photovoltaic/piezoelectric actuation mechanism were carried out to verify the proposed control model. The simulation and experimental results show that the deflection of cantilever beam laminated with a PVDF actuator can successfully achieve the target value by applying the UV light to the PLZT ceramic using a simple on-off control method.