Skip to main content
European Commission logo
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
CORDIS Web 30th anniversary CORDIS Web 30th anniversary
Content archived on 2024-05-07

Thick Film Ferroelectric Actuators for New Design Industrial Applications

Objective



There is a requirement for rotary and linear actuation in
an enormous range of applications. Although this has been
met traditionally by the use of electromagnetic motors, a
number of large volume requirements exist for which their
properties are not ideal. The intention of this project
is to address these needs by the use of piezoelectric
motors.

Specifically the objectives of the project are as
follows:

1. Demonstration of a dashboard pointer control actuator,
of a linear piezoelectric motor for microoptic headlamp
control and of motor for watches.
2. Extension of the underpinning technology for
piezoelectric materials.

The required improvements to the characteristics of the
motors are achieved by:

1. Addressing the issue of thermal expansion match
between the different materials making up the motor
design.
2. Novel design/integration of the drive circuit.
3. Investigating the use of different materials at the
rotor/stator or slider/stator interface.
4. Design of novel rotary and linear position sensors,
probably based upon a capacitative principle.
5. Developing low cost means for achieving the required
formats of piezoelectric materials for these motors while
potentially producing very high quality. This will be
achieved by focusing on the powder preparation techniques
to reduce sintering temperatures and the means for
processing them into dense ceramics and thick films at
low cost.

This proposal conforms to the following objectives in the
workprogramme:

the development of the piezo materials for the motors
falls into the category of new functionalized materials,
particularly for microsystems
the new process technologies for the piezoelectric
materials fall into this category
the use of ultra fine powders falls into this category
as it encompasses colloid science and nanotechnology
the motors are actuators for use in car displays, which
are integrated into the vehicle command and control
system.

The multidisciplinary consortium is vertically integrated
and includes 2 Universities, 7 Industries (3 SME) and 2
Research Centers from 5 CEC Contras and a new Associated
Country.

Keywords

Call for proposal

Data not available

Coordinator

Centro Ricerche Fiat ScpA
EU contribution
No data
Address
Strada Torino 50
10043 Orbassano Torino
Italy

See on map

Total cost
No data

Participants (10)