| 摘要 |
An apparatus and process for preloading an electrically stimulated smart material actuator product to obtain maximum work from the actuator. When a smart material actuator is optimally preloaded certain desirable characteristics become apparent, such as work, operational frequency, hysteresis, repeatability, and overall accuracy. When used in conjunction with a mechanically leveraged actuator structure the smart material actuator can be used to its greatest potential. Since the mechanically leveraged actuator can be based on the maximum work provided by the smart material actuator, certain attributes such as the force, and displacement of total system can be adjusted without loss to system efficiency. Preloading methods and a determination of the optimal preload force are disclosed. Each smart material actuator type has a unique work curve. In the design of an actuator assembly, the process of optimizing uses the unique work curve to optimize the design for the requirements of the particular application. The unique work curve is used by finding the place where the smart material actuator is capable of providing the most work in order to set the optimum preload point accordingly. Different mechanical preload techniques are provided.
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