A novel inchworm type linear magnetostrictive motor

Giant magnetostrictive material (GMM) is a new type of function material the shape of which can be controlled by the applied magnetic field. A novel GMM linear inchworm motor is introduced in this paper. The motor has double-sided three-phase stators and a laminated GMM element. The travel speed, range and direction of the linear motor can be controlled by adjusting the frequency and phase sequence of the stator winding currents. The GMM motor shows great potential in high-force density precision positioning applications.