Novel composite of magnetostrictive material and piezoelectric actuator for coil-free magnetic force control

Novel composite of magnetostructure material and piezoelectric actuator is proposed for coil-free magnetic force control. The magnetic force control is based on the inverse magnetostrictive effect of magnetostrictive materials whereby the strain hence magnetic force is controlled by the actuator. Because the piezoelectric actuator is an electrically capacitive, this magnetic force control method has the advantages of zero power consumption in steady-state operation. Furthermore, the configuration which requires no robust structure of constraint is simple compared with that of conventional device. The behaviour of the magnetic force dependant on the dimension of the permanent magnet and prestress is investigated. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.