Engineers at Dynamic Structures and Materials, LLC (DSM, Franklin, TN) have used funding from a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant to squeeze an actuator system — a piezoelectric actuator, sensors, and associated electronics — into a small package that provides improved control for missile actuation systems in comparison to baseline electromagnetic actuators. The novel piezoelectric actuator system’s features include the use of low-voltage piezo material that can operate in more extreme temperatures than electromagnetic systems.

DSM’s actuator technology boasts speed, temperature, and power advantages over competing systems.

How it Works

A piezoelectric material changes shape when an electrical field is applied. The resulting electric charge in the piezo element causes it to extend in subnanometer increments at a minimum and by approximately 70 to 80 microns at a maximum in DSM’s valve actuator.

Stacking piezo elements adds incrementally to the displacement range, but to achieve significantly more displacement, the team designed a multihinged (flexured) metal composite housing — an “exoskeleton” — to bind the piezo elements together and mechanically amplify the piezo element’s output. DSM has produced a range of valve actuators with mechanical amplification ratios of 5 to 100 times, producing strokes from 100 microns to 10 millimeters. In the MDA valve application, the stroke is proportionally controlled to a fine degree over the range of 0 to 1.5 mm, which is the amount necessary for proportional control of many miniature missile valve applications.