Control of Piezoelectric Benders Using a Charge

This article describes the use of a charge amplifier to improve the linearity of a piezoelectric bender. Existing charge drive circuits can not be directly applied to bimorph piezoelectric benders since they share a common electrode. In this article a new charge drive circuit and electrical configuration is described that allows piezoelectric bimorphs to be linearised with charge. Experimental results demonstrate that the use of a charge source reduces hysteresis from 16.56 % to 0.26%