Design and performance analysis of a rotary traveling wave ultrasonic motor with double vibrators.

This paper presents the development of a rotary traveling wave ultrasonic motor, in which a vibrating stator and vibrating rotor are combined in one motor. The stator and rotor are designed as similar structures an elastic body and a piezoelectric ceramic ring. In exciting of the piezoelectric ceramics, the elastic body of the stator and rotor will generate respective traveling waves, which force each other forward in the contact zone. Based on the elliptical rule of particle motion and matching principle of vibration, the design rules of two vibrators are determined. The finite element method is used to design the sizes of vibrators to ensure that they operate in resonance, and the simulation is verified by measuring the vibration with an impedance analyzer. It is found out that to maintain an appropriate contact between the stator and rotor, two vibrators need to be designed with close resonance frequencies, different vibration amplitudes, and be driven by an identical driving frequency. To analyze this innovative contact mechanism, particle velocity synthesis theory and contact force analysis using Hertz contact model are carried out. Finally, a prototype is fabricated and tested to verify the theoretical results. The test results show that the output performance of the motor driven by the two vibrators is significantly improved compared to the motor driven by a sole stator or rotor, which confirms the validity of the double-vibrator motor concept.

Pumping Rate Study of a Left Ventricular Assist Device in a Mock Circulatory System.

The aim of this work was to investigate the hemodynamic influence of the change of pump rate on the cardiovascular system with consideration of heart rate and the resonant characteristics of the arterial system when a reliable synchronous triggering source is unavailable. Hemodynamic waveforms are recorded at baseline conditions and with the pump rate of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) at 55, 60, 66, and 70 beats per minute for four test conditions in a mock circulatory system. The total input work (TIW) and energy equivalent pressure (EEP) are calculated as metrics for evaluating the hemodynamic performance within different test conditions. Experimental results show that TIW and EEP achieve their maximum values, where the pump rate is equal to the heart rate. In addition, it demonstrates that TIW and EEP are significantly affected by changing pump rate of LVAD, especially when the pump rate is closing to the natural frequency of the arterial system. When a reliable synchronous triggering source is not available for LVAD, it is suggested that selecting a pump rate equal to the resonant frequency of the arterial system could achieve better supporting effects.

[Working Temperature Predication of Artificial Heart Based on Neural Network].

The purpose of this paper is to achieve a measurement of temperature prediction for artificial heart without sensor, for which the research briefly describes the application of back propagation neural network as well as the optimized, by genetic algorithm, BP network. Owing to the limit of environment after the artificial heart implanted, detectable parameters out of body are taken advantage of to predict the working temperature of the pump. Lastly, contrast is made to demonstrate the prediction result between BP neural network and genetically optimized BP network, by which indicates that the probability is 1.84% with the margin of error more than 1%.

Temperature evaluation of traveling-wave ultrasonic motor considering interaction between temperature rise and motor parameters.

In this paper, a novel model for evaluating the temperature of traveling-wave ultrasonic motor (TWUSM) is developed. The proposed model, where the interaction between the temperature rise and motor parameters is considered, differs from the previous reported models with constant parameters. In this model, losses and temperature rises of the motor were evaluated based on the temperature-related varying parameters: the feedback voltage Vaux of the stator, dielectric permittivity ɛ and dielectric loss factor tanδ. At each new temperature, Vaux, ɛ and tanδ were updated. The feasibility and effectiveness of this proposed model was verified by comparing the predicted temperatures with the measured one. The effects of driving voltage, driving frequency and ambient temperature on the predicted temperature were also analyzed. The results show that the proposed model has more accurate predicted temperature than that with constant parameters. This will be very useful for the optimal design, reducing the heat loss, improvement of control and reliability life of TWUSM.