In this contribution, we analyze the impact of manufacturing deviations on the performance of a bidirectionally operable mesoscale piezoelectric motor. The motor design was originally proposed by Suzuki et al. [1], and Marter et al. [2] subsequently demonstrated bidirectional motion experimentally by tuning the driving frequency near the stator’s resonance. However, experiments on prototype motors revealed that the expected direction of rotation was not always achieved. Consequently, the working principle of the motor design required further investigation. It was found that the primary source of the unexpected motor behavior is associated with the fabrication process, in particular with geometric deviations. To further investigate this effect, a finite element model of the piezoelectric motor was developed. In this context, models based on either ideal or perturbed geometries were employed. Incorporating the deformed stator geometry led to the expected motor behavior and enabled a correct prediction of the rotation direction, which could not be achieved using the ideal CAD geometry. Consequently, a validated finite element model has been developed that provides valuable insights which are difficult to obtain through standalone experiments. For the analysis, the perturbed geometry was subdivided into an idealized perturbed geometry and a realistic perturbed geometry accounting for actual manufacturing deviations. The idealized perturbed geometry was generated by computing the displacement field induced by a pressure load representing the influence of soldered electrical contacts. This deformed geometry was subsequently used for the analysis, while stress-stiffening and thermal effects were neglected [3]. In contrast, the realistic perturbed geometry was obtained by measuring the actual manufacturing deviations and incorporating them into the stator CAD model. An analysis of the obtained results indicates that the principal difference between the ideal and perturbed models lies in the modified stator–rotor contact regions. References: [1] Y. Suzuki, K. Tani, T. Sakuhara: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0924-4247(99)00391-X [2] P. Marter, M. Khramova, F. Duvigneau, R. J. Wood, D. Juhre, R. Orszulik: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2024.115642 [3] R. Toledo, S. Eisenträger, R. Orszulik: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00707-024-04074-y