A review, supported by experimental results, of voltage, charge and capacitor insertion method for driving piezoelectric actuators

A piezoelectric actuator consists of ceramic material that expands or contracts when a positive or a negative potential voltage signal is applied. The displacement of a piezoelectric actuator is commonly controlled using a voltage input due to its ease of implementation. However, driving a piezoelectric actuator using a voltage input leads to the non-linear hysteresis and creep. Hysteresis and creep are undesirable characteristics which lead to large errors when a piezoelectric actuator is used in positioning applications. The amount of hysteresis and creep could be minimized to a large extent when a piezoelectric actuator is driven using a charge input. Another method which substantially reduces hysteresis and creep involves the insertion of a capacitor in series with a piezoelectric actuator which is driven using a voltage input. A review of voltage, charge and capacitor insertion methods for driving piezoelectric actuators is presented in this paper. Experimental results, for a piezoelectric actuator driven using the above three methods, are presented to validate the facts presented in this review.