Superbender

Noliac has developed and patented a novel bender design that enables far higher performance levels, compared to the conventional multilayer benders.

The operating principle for the lower part of the superbender is identical to a standard bender, where a multiple of internal electrodes generate a d₃₁ contraction in the length direction, securing a bending motion in the down-going direction.

The additional bending motion comes from an innovative IDE internal electrode structure in the top section of the superbender. It is the utilization of the d₃₃ effect in this section that generates the expansion, which contributes to the down-going bowing of the bender. The d₃₃ effect is per definition more than twice as large as the d₃₁ effect, which thus is the reason for the larger deformation of the new design compared to conventional benders.

The technology of the superbender is currently developed to prototype stage.

Cross sectional view of the superbender.

The actuator is made of two sections on top of each other, one d₃₃ IDE

section and one d₃₁ conventional section, separated and protected by inactive layers.

View of two prototypes superbenders.

The top and bottom electrodes can be seen through the thin ceramic layers.