Optimization Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Low-Cost Linear Motor with Compliant Bearings for Precision Engineering Applications

Abstract

This paper presents the structural optimization and experimental evaluation of a novel linear motor for applications in precision engineering industry. The output linear motion from the motor is supposed to be highly accurate since it is supported by a couple of compliant bearings. The stroke of the proposed motor is determined by the largest displacement of compliant bearings in elastic region. Therefore, the beam-type flexure, which is able to produce large elastic deformation, is suitable for the compliant bearing design. In addition, the bearing design is optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM) in ANSYS to achieve a compliant structure with high deformation capability in desired directions. The optimized bearings will then be assembled with the voice coil actuator (VCA) to create a complete 1-DOF linear motor. Several experimental evaluations are carried out to verify the actual performance of the motor. The experimental results suggest that the proposed linear motor is able to produce precise linear motion with high accuracy and high repeatability. Furthermore, the millimeter-scale stroke of the motor is large enough to use in a variety of devices in precision engineering industry.