A wear-reduced nanodrive based on oscillating rolling

Abstract

In this article we introduce a promising new concept for a high precision actuator. It is based on inertia effects and oscillating rolling. A sphere acts as the drive and is pressed on a movable substrate that acts as the runner. A combination of oscillating translation and rotation of the sphere induces motion of the runner. A varying normal force leads to varying indentation depth and contact area. This asymmetry together with the inertia of the runner enables accurate control of its displacement. As slip is completely omitted here, in theory the actuator works principally wearless. We use the method of dimensionality reduction to conduct a quasistatic numerical simulation of the system. In addition we derive analytical expressions for the steady working points of the system that are in perfect agreement with the simulation results.