Design of a test setup to independently vary displacement and force of piezoelectric stack actuators

This study presents a test setup for independently varying displacements and forces of piezoelectric stack actuators (PESAs). Linear constitutive equations are employed to define the feasible operating region of the setup. In addition, a controller for tracking desired displacement and force patterns is introduced. Performance of this setup is experimentally validated by showing the linear relationship between charge, displacement, and force that exists in the literature. The described test setup is a valuable tool to design self sensing and control systems for PESAs subjected to simultaneous excitement of displacement and force.