Thermal Analysis and Actuation Performance Evaluation for V-Shape Piezo Motor in Vacuum

The accurate and rapid thermal analysis and actuation performance evaluation for linear piezo motor (LPM) applied in extreme conditions can play a presentive role in performance degradation evaluation. This paper proposed an effective thermal analysis method for a V-shape LPM in vacuum based on 3D thermal network modeling technique. The interaction between the model parameters such as radiation thermal resistances and various losses and the temperature, and the particularity of the heat conduction of piezoelectric materials were considered in the presented thermal network. Furthermore, an analytical actuation performance model considering the resonant frequency drift caused by temperature rise is established to evaluate the LPM actuation performance. Finally, the FEM-based temperature field analysis and the relative experiments were conducted to validate the developed model. The results showed that the proposed 3D thermal network can rapidly and accurately predict the real-time temperature rise of different parts and detect the local hotspot of the critical components, and the proposed actuation performance model was useful for evaluating the performance degradation of the LPM applied in vacuum circumstance.