• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2008

In this paper, the pumping performance of a piezoelectric valveless micropump is simulated with a commercial finite element analysis software, COMSOL Multiphysics. The micropump developed in the previous work is composed of a 4-layer lightweight piezo-composite actuator (LIPCA), a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pump chamber, and two diffusers. The piezoelectric domain, structural domain and fluid domain are coupled in the simulation. Water flow rates are numerically predicted for geometric parameters of the micropump. Based on this study, the micropump is optimally designed to obtain its highest pumping performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.48-53
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• 2005

In this paper, we present our recent progress in the LIPCA (Lightweight Piezo-Composite Actuator) application for actuation of a flapping wing device. The flapping device uses linkage system that can amplify the actuation displacement of LIPCA. The feathering mechanism is also designed and implemented such that the wing can rotate during flapping. The natural flapping-frequency of the device was about 9 Hz, where the maximum flapping angle was achieved. The flapping test under 4 Hz to 15 Hz flapping frequency was performed to investigate the flapping performance by measuring the produced lift and thrust. Maximum lift and thrust were produced when the flapping device was actuated at about the natural flapping-frequency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.719-722
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• 2005

In this paper, we present out recent progress in the LIPCA (Lightweight Piezo-Composite Actuator) application for actuation of a flapping wing device. The flapping device uses linkage system that can amplify the actuation displacement of LIPCA. The feathering mechanism is also designed and implemented such that the wing can rotate during flapping. The natural flapping-frequency of the device was about 9 Hz, where the maximum flapping angle was achieved. The flapping test under 5 Hz to 15 Hz flapping frequency was performed to investigate the flapping performance by measuring the produced lift and thrust. Maximum lift and thrust were produced when the flapping device was actuated at about the natural flapping-frequency.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.35-41
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• 2006

In this paper, we focus on improving the performance of the piezoelectric diaphragms of valveless micropumps. A circular lightweight piezoelectric composite actuator (LIPCA) with a high level of displacement and output force has been developed for piezoelectrically actuated micropumps. We used numerical and experimental methods to analyze the characteristics of the actuator to select optimal design. With the developed circular LIPCA, we fabricated a valveless micropump by photo-lithography and PDMS molding techniques. The displacement of the diaphragm, the flow rate and the back pressure of the micropump were evaluated and discussed. With a semi-empirical method, the flow rate with respect to driving frequency was predicted and compared with experimental one. The test results confirm that the circular LIPCA is a promising candidate for micropump application and can be used as a substitute for a conventional piezoelectric actuator diaphragm.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.60-66
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• 2006

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate potential application of Lightweight Piezo-composite Actuator (LIPCA) to suppress vibrations of structures. The LIPCA, consisting of a piezoelectric layer, a carbon/epoxy layer and glass/epoxy layers, has advantages in terms of high performance, durability and reliability, compared to the bare piezoelectric ceramic (PZT) actuator. We performed two kinds of experiments on static actuation and active vibration suppression to investigate the actuation performances of the LIPCA and the bare PZT. We attached the actuator on one side and a strain gage on the other side of an aluminum beam. In the static actuation test, we evaluated the performance by comparing equivalent actuation moments of the LIPCA and the bare PZT due to the applied voltage. In the active vibration control test, control signals were generated to suppress the vibration of the beam by the PID control algorithm based on the measured strain signals. The performances were estimated based on settling times of the strain responses. It can be concluded that the LIPCA has better actuation performances than the bare PZT in active control of free vibration as well as static actuation.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.429-434
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• 2007

This paper presents an experimental and parametric study of a biomimetic fish robot actuated by the Lightweight Piezo-composite Actuator(LIPCA). The biomimetic aspects in this work are the oscillating tail beat motion and shape of caudal fin. Caudal fins that resemble fins of BCF(Body and Caudal fin) mode fish were made in order to perform parametric study concerning the effect of caudal fin characteristics on thrust production at an operating frequency range. The observed caudal fin characteristics are the shape, area, and aspect ratio. It was found that a high aspect ratio caudal fin contributes to high swimming speed. The fish robot was propelled by artificial caudal fins shaped after thunniform-fish and mackerel caudal fins, which have relatively high aspect ratio, produced swimming speed as high as 2.364 cm/s and 2.519 cm/s, respectively, for 300 Vpp input voltage excited at 0.9 Hz. Thrust performance of the biomimetic fish robot was examined by Strouhal number, Froude number, Reynolds number, and Net forward force.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.1 s.256
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• pp.36-42
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• 2007

This paper presents mechanical design, fabrication and test of a biomimetic fish robot actuated by a unimorph piezoceramic actuator, LIPCA(Lightweight Piezo-Composite curved Actuator.) We have designed a linkage mechanism that can convert bending motion of the LIPCA into the caudal fin movement. This linkage system consists of a rack-pinion system and four-bar linkage. Four types of artificial caudal fins that resemble caudal fin shapes of ostraciiform subcarangiform, carangiform, and thunniform fish, respectively, are attached to the posterior part of the robotic fish. The swimming test under 300 $V_{pp}$ input with 0.6 Hz to 1.2 Hz frequency was conducted to investigate effect of tail beat frequency and shape of caudal fin on the swimming speed of the robotic fish. At the frequency of 0.9 Hz, the maximum swimming speeds of 1.632 cm/s, 1.776 cm/s, 1.612 cm/s and 1.51 cm/s were reached for fish robots with ostraciiform, subcarangiform carangiform and thunniform caudal fins, respectively. The Strouhal number, which means the ratio between unsteady force and inertia force, or a measure of thrust efficiency, was calculated in order to examine thrust performance of the present biomimetic fish robot. The calculated Strouhal numbers show that the present robotic fish does not fall into the performance range of a fast swimming robot.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.744-750
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• 2009

In this study, the pumping performance of a piezoelectric valveless micropump is simulated. The micropump, which was developed in the previous work, is composed of a four-layer lightweight piezocomposite actuator, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pump chamber, and two diffusers. The piezoelectric domain, the fluid domain and the structural domain are coupled in the three-dimensional simulation. We used ANSYS for the piezoelectric and structural domains and ANSYS CFX for the fluid domain. The effects of driven frequency on the flow rate have been investigated by simulating the flow characteristics for 10 Hz and 40 Hz driven frequencies. The flow rates with respect to driven frequencies up to 300 Hz have been calculated.