Abstract
This paper presents a miniature positioning device using Iron-Gallium alloy (Galfenol). Galfenol is a ductile magnetostrictive material with magnetostriction more than 200 ppm, Young's modulus of 70 GPa and high permeability. The actuator consists of a small pin of Galfenol, 1 mm diameter fabricated by ultra high precision cutting, winding coil, housing, and brass mover clamped on a frictional rod. The movement is based on the smooth impact drive mechanism, where the mover frictionally supported is moved step by step by inertia force with the rapid expansion and slow contract of the Galfenol pin. The miniature device driven less than 3 V was verified the velocity of 1 mm/s at driving frequency of 2 kHz with no-traveling limit, which will be applicable for positioning mechanism for mobile electronics.
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