Study on the Driving Performance and Influencing Factors of Multi-Electrothermal Co-Actuation Devices Considering Application Environments

Electrothermal actuators, with their simple structure, small size, strong anti-interference ability, and easy integration, have emerged as a promising solution for micro-drive technology. However, deploying them in extreme environments, such as the fuze systems-which demand exceptional reliability under high mechanical overloads. In this study, a device based on multi-electrothermal co-actuation is designed for the fuze system of loitering munition. The overall structure and work principle of the multi-electrothermal co-actuation device is discussed. Considering application environments, the effect factors of V-beam numbers, air gap, type of contact surface, external load force, periodic voltage and gas damping on the output performance of the multi-electrothermal co-actuation device are systematically addressed via simulation and experimental method. Furthermore, the high overload resistance performance of the co-actuation device applied in loitering munition is studied. The results show that the proposed multi-electrothermal co-actuation device could operate stably under a high overload (12,000 g/73.79 μs) environment, fully meeting the demanding requirements of fuze system for loitering munition. In addition, this study identifies laser processing-induced thermal gradients and mechanical stresses as critical fabrication challenges. This study provides significant insights into the design and optimization of multi-electrothermal actuation systems for next-generation fuze applications, establishing a valuable framework for future development in this field.