Journal of Bionic Engineering (2025) 22:703–712 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-025-00652-5

An Improved Bionic Piezoelectric Actuator for Eliminating the  Backward Motion 

Nen Wan1  · Junjie Cai1  · Lidong He1  · Jianping Li1  · Yili Hu1  · Jijie Ma1  · Kang Chen1  · Yingting Wang1  · Yigang Shen1  ·  Jianming Wen1

1 The Institute of Precision Machinery and Smart Structure,  College of Engineering, Zhejiang Normal University,  Jinhua 321004, China

Abstract 

Piezoelectric actuators are widely utilized in positioning systems to realize nano-scale resolution. However, the backward  motion always generates for some piezoelectric actuators, which reduces the working efficiency. Bionic motions have  already been employed in the field of piezoelectric actuators to realize better performance. By imitating the movement  form of seals, seal type piezoelectric actuator is capable to realize large operating strokes easily. Nevertheless, the conventional seal type piezoelectric actuator has a complicated structure and control system, which limits further applications.  Hence, an improved bionic piezoelectric actuator is proposed to realize a long motion stroke and eliminate backward  movement with a simplified structure and control method in this study. The composition and motion principle of the  designed actuator are discussed, and the performance is investigated with simulations and experiments. Results confirm  that the presented actuator effectively realizes the linear movement that has a large working stroke stably without backward motion. The smallest stepping displacement ΔL is 0.2 μm under 1 Hz and 50 V. The largest motion speed is 900 μm/s  with 900 Hz and 120 V. The largest vertical and horizontal load are 250 g and 12 g, respectively. This work shows that  the improved bionic piezoelectric actuator is feasible for eliminating backward motion and has a great working ability. Highlight The structure and control of the seal type piezoelectric actuator are simplified. A lever type flexure mechanism is proposed to improve the output. Results show the proposed simplified seal type piezoelectric actuator is feasible. A piezoelectric stack is employed and there is no backward motion. 

Keywords Piezoelectric · Actuator · Seal · Bionic · Flexure · Backward motion