Driving stability of superconducting magnetic bearing system

Abstract

A superconducting bearing system including a 7.5 kg disc shaped rotor is stabilized by using superconducting and magnetic levitation combination. The rotor is stabilized with the Evershed type bearing where the majority of the rotor mass is lifted via attractive permanent magnets configuration, and the stability of the rotor is provided by superconductors. The stability tests are performed via obtaining levitation force characteristic. Preliminary levitation force results show that the system is stable and robust; indicating rotor mass can be increased more without losing the efficiency. Dynamic tests are performed during spin of the designed bearing system. The resonance behavior of the system indicates that the bearing is not vulnerable to higher speeds. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.