Study in COMSOL of the generation of traveling waves in an AEF robot by piezoelectric actuation

Abstract

This paper presents a study of motion of an artificial eukaryotic flagellum (AEF) microrobot in COMSOL Multiphysics®. The microrobot is essentially a body, consisting of an aluminum beam structure with two piezoelectric patches bonded on its surface. It requires the same voltage with different frequencies or phases be applied to each piezoelectric or use one of the piezoelectrics as absorber in order to generate a traveling wave on the body. Different types of actuation are simulated to demonstrate that a non-reciprocal motion can be obtained with this kind of configuration.