Piezo-Hydraulic Actuation System Technologies (PHAST)

Concrete designs of a novel actuator, which can deliver significantly augmented force and/or stroke relative to conventional actuators, and associated drive electronics and a control system, are focus of our technology development program. The plannedeffort leverages recent work done by Prof. C. S. Lynch of Georgia Tech on modeling and characterization of relaxor single crystals and development of a hybrid actuation system using PZT materials and hydraulic amplification. The proposed design isspecifically targeted for rotor blade flap application but should be scalable and easily retrofitable for a variety of other applications. The NextGen team will validate the conceptual design through computer simulations and component level experiments.Anticipated benefits include reduced helicopter vibration levels, reduced pilot and structure fatigue and improved system effectiveness. Development and demonstration of a highly efficient actuator as proposed will have numerous applications in automative,aerospace and marine fields, in both military and civilian sectors.