Development and Characteristic Investigation of a Multidimensional Discrete Magnetostrictive Actuator

Active combustion control (ACC) has been proved to be an effective method for the suppression of pressure oscillation in aero engine combustion chambers, which will seriously endanger flight safety of aircrafts. However, the actuators for ACC need to work with a bandwidth of 1000 Hz, a stroke up to submillimeter level and a high power density simultaneously. Existing electromagnetic actuators, or smart material actuators, are still unable to meet these requirements at the same time. To address this issue, in this article, a multidimensional discrete magnetostrictive actuator (MDMA) was developed by adopting the multidimensional discrete configuration. In order to obtain large output displacement while maintaining the characteristics of high bandwidth and high power density of magnetostrictive materials, tubular and cylindrical magnetostrictive rods are nested axially and radially through sleeves to form a discrete magnetostrictive stack; independent excitation coils and permanent magnet rings are integrated axially to form a discrete electromagnetic excitation system. Then, a magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) model was developed to analyze the magnetic field distribution characteristic of MDMA components. Next, a multiphysics comprehensive dynamic model was established to describe the complex dynamic properties of multidimensional discrete structures. Subsequently, a prototype of the MDMA was fabricated, which is only 56 mm in diameter and only 71.5 mm high. Experimental results indicate that, the proposed MDMA reaches a stoke of 100 mu m, and the working bandwidth can exceed 1000 Hz. Furthermore, closed-loop control tests were conducted and the results showed that the MDMA can effectively track sinusoidal references of different amplitudes under low frequency with a feedback PID controller.

Automated summary

In this article, a multidimensional discrete magnetostrictive actuator (MDMA) was developed to address the requirements of active combustion control in aero engine combustion chambers. The MDMA, which adopts a discrete structure, is capable of meeting the high bandwidth, high power density, and large output displacement simultaneously. Experimental results demonstrate that the MDMA can reach a stroke of 100 μm and exceed a working bandwidth of 1000 Hz. Closed-loop control tests also indicate that the MDMA can effectively track sinusoidal references of different amplitudes under low frequency with a feedback PID controller.