Piezo Product Usage Series: Piezoelectric Cylinders
APC International supplies a wide range of standard and custom designed piezoelectric cylinders. This post provides some additional background information on APC’s piezo cylinders. APC’s standard cylinders can be found here. For more information on APC’s custom cylinders please review information about APC’s custom piezoelectric elements.
Typical applications for piezo cylinders include:
-Fine movement actuator
-Fiber optic stretching
-Piezo sensor application.
A piezo cylinder typically has silver electrodes on the outer diameter (OD) and inner diameter (ID) surfaces with leads attached to each surface. The movement of piezo cylinders is caused by a change in wall thickness when voltage is applied. The change in wall thickness causes movement in the length and diameter dimensions.
When a positive voltage is applied to the Cylinder:
-Wall thickness increases
-Outer diameter increases
-Length decreases
When a negative voltage is applied to the Cylinder:
-Wall thickness decreases
-Outer diameter decreases
-Length increases
Typical AC Frequency: Less Than 100 Hz
Maximum AC Drive Voltage: 75 Vrms per / mm thk
Typical AC Drive Signal: Sine Wave or Square Wave
Typical DC Drive Voltage: 400 Vdc / mm thk (Positive Bias)
Typical DC Drive Voltage: 200 Vdc / mm thk (Negative Bias)
Maximum DC Drive Voltage: 800 Vdc / mm thk (Positive Bias)
Maximum DC Drive Voltage: 200 Vdc / mm thk (Negative Bias)
Piezo cylinders usually need to be bonded or fixed to a rigid surface for proper operation. Epoxy is often use to bond the cylinder to a non conductive rigid base. One possible epoxy to use is Loctite E-30CL. However, we have also had success with many other epoxies.
Please note the above information does not consider the piezo cylinder impedance (Z) or power (W) requirements.
When providing piezo electric cylinders, APC assumes the buyer has knowledge and experience in the following areas.
– Basic understanding of piezoelectric ceramics
– Basic understanding of the electrical requirements
– Basic understanding of safety requirements.
Please contact APC if you do not understand this information or if you are using APC’s piezoelectric cylinders in a non-traditional application.
This post is the third in a series of posts to provide some general comments on product usage and safety. Please check back later for comments on other piezo products sold by APC International, Ltd.
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