18/09-08   -   Press releases

New generation of piezoelectric actuators

Noliac is at the forefront of the development of more resistant and cheaper piezoelectric actuators in Europe. The new generation of actuators will resist humidity, have fewer cracks in the ceramic material and last longer.

The actuators will have a broad range of industrial utilization within e.g. noise and vibration damping for wind mill turbines, control systems in automobiles, wire bonding and active wheel suspension and engine mounts in automobiles. The latter use is elaborated below.

Future automobiles prove lighter and have better comfort
During the past decades, automobile weight has almost doubled. This is a result of the manufacturers’ race for installing noise and vibration damping materials granting better comfort and security.

Consumers do not notice the extreme weight increase as engines concurrently have become more effective leaving gasoline consumption unchanged or decreased in spite of the higher weight.

Active engine mounts
A new kind of technology will make it possible to reduce noise and vibrations in automobiles without weight increase. This relates to active mounting for engines. The active mounting imposes contra vibrations neutralizing the vibrations from engines.

Active mounting is based upon piezoelectric actuators which are developed by Noliac.

Close cooperation across borders
Noliac is cooperating with two leading manufacturers in the automobile industry: ContiTech and Ricardo in Germany. Together with Noliac and three universities, they will develop the active mounting.

One difficulty is that the piezoelectric actuators must resist humidity and high stress. Therefore, new materials must be developed. This is done in cooperation with product development experts at Noliac Ceramics in Czech Republic and IPU in Lyngby, Denmark.

6 million Euros from the European Commission
Noliac came up with the idea in 2006 and forwarded a project description to the European Commission’s research programme FP7. The European Commission has funded 6 million Euros for the project. The project participants will fund 2 million Euros on top of this. The project will last 4 years.

Noliac, the project coordinator, has arranged a press meeting Thursday, September 18th where 15 participants from seven countries in Europe will meet in Kvistgaard, Denmark.

Further information:
EU Consultant Anders Bjerrum, FP7consult, phone: +45 2615 4152
Project Coordinator Claus Bo Andersen, phone:+45 4042 9434

HIPER Act = HIgh PERformance Piezoelectric Actuators