An Analysis of Conical Homopolar Electrodynamic Bearing

Abstract

The electrodynamic bearings (EDB) have a great perspective to substitute the traditional reluctance type electromagnetic bearings (EMB) used for supporting the rotor and keep it stable during the whole range of operation. Hybridization plays an important role in the development of magnetic bearing (MB) because combining for example axial and radial bearings into one single device results in a cost-effective solution usually smaller in size that has advantages when implemented in the motor design. In this paper, a hybrid arrangement that combines radial and axial EDB into a single device is presented. The most perspective low-loss design called homopolar EDB adopted with the traditional magnet-pole shoe arrangement is studied in the conical arrangement of rotor and stator. The results show great progress in the performance of MB as well as an easy way to balance between radial and axial load capacity.