bending actuator
Piezoelectric bending transducers are actuators that bend when an electrical voltage is applied. They are based on the piezoelectric effect and are often made of piezoceramics.
The deflection of piezo bending transducers and the amount of bending depend on the length of the piezo ceramic and the amount of voltage applied. It may well be several millimeters and newtons. The response times of piezo bending transducers are extremely low, so they can be used for fast adjustments.
Piezo bending transducers can be constructed in a single layer or in multilayer technology, i.e. in several layers of piezoceramics. One end of a bending transducer is fixed, the other end is free to vibrate. The rates of change are determined by the self- resonance. This is so high that piezo bending transducers can be used as acoustic transducers for sound frequencies and ultrasonic frequencies.
The ultrasonic vibrations generated by piezoceramics are used for cleaning surfaces, as well as for measuring filling levels, flow velocities, welding plastics and in medical diagnostics.